


Third Time’s the Charm

by kurapikas_chains



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bickering, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Hinata Shouyou, Pining Kageyama Tobio, TW: Homophobia, barista!hinata shouyou, best bros hinata and kenma, i just threw the whole team in a coffee shop together lmao, misunderstandings (like a lot of them), oops this got angsty, probably gonna be mostly fluff? i’ll see where it goes, sort of a slowburn?, this is so self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 54,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26119960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kurapikas_chains/pseuds/kurapikas_chains
Summary: When college student/barista Hinata Shouyou attends his first college volleyball game, he doesn’t expect to find the most beautiful man he’s ever met.Nor does he expect him to be an asshole.When Kageyama Tobio needs a quick drink of coffee, he doesn’t expect to have his drink spilled all over him.Nor does he expect the barista to be so attractive.ORTwo idiots can never seem to say the right thing.rating is for language
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 165
Kudos: 569
Collections: kghn fics :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys! (if anyone is reading this)
> 
> this is my first post, so if you’re seeing this hello and i hope you enjoy! this is super self indulgent but i’m hoping i can keep writing and create an actual story.
> 
> this is just for fun and my entertainment, but please feel free to give me any feed back or suggestions! it is all much appreciated :-)

Hinata Shouyou was not a very patient person. He had plenty of redeeming qualities, shown by that fact that he had many friends and most people liked to be around him. But patience was not among these attributes.

Currently, Hinata was standing at his front door, weight bouncing back and forth between his legs, and his keys jostling as he spun them on his fingers, the picture of impatience and boundless energy.

“Kenma,” he yelled into the apartment, drawing out the syllables of his roommates name. “We have to go! I don’t want to be late!” He glanced at his watch. 2:17pm. Not awful, but not great either.

“We have, like, forty five minutes, Shouyou,” an answering call resounded from behind a closed door.

Hinata merely grumbled to himself. Sure, the game started at 3:00, but they would want to get good seats, wouldn’t they? So they _should_ get there at 2:45. The university was ten minutes away by car, but thanks to a dark road, one very frightened deer, and the worlds slowest mechanic, they were both on foot for the time being. A thirty minute walk through a fairly nice part of town would be enjoyable, if not for the looming threat of tardiness.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was more like two minutes, Hinata heard Kenma’s door open. Shortly there after, Kenma himself emerged. He was short, but taller than Hinata, with two toned hair and cat-like eyes. And, to Hinata’s dismay, he was carrying a Nintendo Switch.

“ _Kenma_ ,” Hinata bemoaned. “If you bring your switch, you’ll never pay attention. I’ll have to tell you what’s happening because you won’t look up.”

Kenma scoffed. “You’re telling me that you weren’t already going to give me a detailed play-by-play? Shouyou, you’d tell me what was happening even if I was the one playing.”

Hinata spluttered, stumbling his way to an excuse. “But you won’t have any fun if you don’t watch!”

Kenma held his Switch out in front of him like a strange handshake. “We’re a package deal, Shouyou. You take one of us, you take both of us.” The look in his eye was deadly serious, and because Hinata valued his life, he relented and ushered them out the door.

The walk to the university was quiet. The weather was crisp, cold enough to force Hinata’s hands into his jacket pockets, but not cold enough to make him outright shiver. The last tendrils of winter were unwrapping themselves from the campus, icy grass turning to lush fields, plain dirt plots yielding colorful flowers. There was a sort of apprehension in the air, the feeling that _something_ was going to happen. Hinata could see it in the way the grass trembled, could feel it in the way the bitter wind wrapped around his face, throwing his hair into disarray.

Though it wasn’t as if his hair could get any messier than it usually looked. When he was a child, Hinata’s mother would sit him between her legs and attack him with a comb until his scalp was numb and his ears stung, but it never yielded results. His hair continued to stick off of his head in every direction, which, coupled with the fact that it was a shocking shade of orange, gave off the impression that Hinata was much younger than he was.

His height also played a role, but not everyone could be six feet tall, could they? Hinata often found that tall people were much quicker to get on his nerves than people nearer to his own height.

 _They always think they’re so special, just because they can reach tall shelves and look down at people. They’re not so great,_ he thought bitterly. With this train of thought reaching a crescendo, Hinata let out an annoyed breath in a huff. However, seeing that his breath made a crystalline cloud in the cold air, all venomous thoughts were immediately overturned in favor of trying to breathe out as hard as he could, trying to make each breath longer and more forceful than the last, to make the icy cloud bigger.

Hinata often competed with himself. This might sound odd to an outsider, but in Hinata’s brain, it made perfect sense. Growing up, he had always been alone. His sister was much younger than he was, so she was never much of a playmate. He had friends at school, but they were never as enthusiastic about anything as Hinata was.

Throughout middle school, you could usually find Hinata tossing a volleyball to himself in the courtyard, while his friends were off playing team sports. While Hinata wanted to race to the schoolyard, his friend were content to just walk. When Hinata wanted to see who could eat the most meat buns after school, his mates merely laughed and told him to ‘slow down before you choke and die’. He was never lonely, but he was alone. And thus, the spirit of competition, a fire that burned bright inside of Hinata, had nowhere to turn but on itself.

Hinata timed himself getting changed before school. He raced against passing cars on his bike ride in the morning. He tried to be the first person in every class, running down the hallways and into people, earning him quite a few detentions. But he never stopped running. The teachers were lenient, as anyone who looked at Hinata could see that he was a massive ball of energy, so tightly wound that it seemed he never stopped moving.

He tapped his fingers, he drummed his pencils, he cracked his knuckles, he stretched, he jostled his legs, he doodled, he folded the edges of his worksheets, anything to keep himself moving. School never came particularly easily to him, as the whole “sit still for seven hours while you work silently” went against his general way of living.

University was better. He got a job, made new friends. He moved from Miyagi to Tokyo, and the hustle and bustle of the big city was like a warm blanket over his senses. The knowledge that no matter where he looked, he would see movement, he would see _life_. It was strangely comforting.

The thirty minute walk felt as though it had lasted thirty seconds instead. Still a little light headed from his earlier antics, he and Kenma climbed the stairs to the gymnasium. As Hinata pushed open the big glass doors leading inside, he paused, just breathing in the smell of they gym. Snacks from the stands, some citrusy cleaner, floor wax, sweat. This was familiar. This was volleyball.

Ignoring the odd look from Kenma, Hinata dashed into the gymnasium, pulling his friend, somewhat reluctantly, along with him. They bought some potato chips and hot drinks before Hinata’s vice-like grip on Kenma’s wrist returned and he resumed dragging him around, this time looking for an entrance to the gym proper.

They came upon a promising looking door with a man standing in front of it, almost like he was standing guard. Both of them pulled out their student IDs out, showing them to the man, who scanned them with something that looked like it could be used at a grocery store.

“Uwaaah, Kenma, I always forget how grumpy you look in your school photo!” Hinata exclaimed as they made their way down the rows of seats to the front.

“I don’t look _grumpy_ ,” Kenma responded, eyes narrowing. “I just don’t look like I won the lottery. Like some people I know.” Hinata smacked him playfully on the shoulder.

“It’s the photo that goes on your ID, Kenma! If I looked all angry in my picture, anyone who had to look at my ID would think I’m a grumpy person! Why would I want that?” Hinata was barely paying attention to the stairs he was walking down or the people he was almost walking into, despite their grumbles and glares.

Kenma looked him up and down before staring at him incredulously with his cat like eyes that always seemed like they could see more than an average person could. “Shouyou. Do you honestly believe that someone could look at you and think that you are a grumpy person?” Hinata grinned at him. “You’re, like, literally high on sunshine and rainbows, like all the time,” Kenma finished.

Hinata hit him again.

They found seats on the second row, near the university’s cheering section. Hinata would have loved to be _in_ the cheering section, the shouts, the jeers, the large drum beating a steady rhythm, rhyming with his heartbeat. But a glance at Kenma, who was eyeing the drum with great disdain, and possibly a bit of fear, and Hinata knew it would be selfish to force Kenma to sit there. And besides, they would have to sit a lot farther back in the cheering section, since regulars get to the games at least an hour early.

Hinata peered down at the young couple in front of them, probably looking somewhat creepy, but paying no mind to that.

“Kenma!” He hissed.

“What is it, Shouyou,” Kenma replied without looking up from his Switch, which Hinata hadn’t even seen him get out.

“Kenma, they have programs! We need one!”

“Then go get one. You have legs.” Kenma still had his eyes glued to whatever game he was playing.

“Ugh! So mean, Kenma,” Hinata pouted. He got up and, somewhat awkwardly, stepped over the row of seats to the aisle behind them, not wanting to disturb the grouchy looking man who sat at the end of the row. As he made his way up the stairs, he glanced back to see Kenma shrugging off his jacket and placing it on Hinata’s seat, effectively claiming the territory.

Hinata smiled to himself as he turned to face where he was going. Kenma wasn’t very outward with his affections, but small gestures like forsaking his jacket in the chilly gym to save Hinata’s seat were all that were necessary to remind Hinata that Kenma cared.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Hinata looked around. He couldn’t see an obvious stack of programs anywhere, nor could he see anyone official looking who may know where to find one. Just as he was about to give up, he saw a man walk by, a glossy piece of paper in his lax hand as he chatted with his companion.

“Excuse me, sir!” Hinata, perhaps a bit too loudly. It worked though, as the man stopped and looked at him. “Excuse me, but where did you get your program, sir? I can’t find them.”

The man’s startled expression changed into something more friendly as Hinata spoke. He was really quite attractive, with styled brown hair and an air of confidence. “Ah, of course! Unfortunately, I believe they ran out-”

Hinata could feel his smile drop. The man’s companion, a guy with tan skin and spiky hair elbowed him sharply. “Shitty-kawa, give him ours. We know everyone already.”

‘Shitty-kawa’ glared at his companion. “As I was _about_ to say, I believe they ran out, but you can have mine.” Another glare, then a smile at Hinata. “Enjoy the match.”

“Wow, thank you so so so much! You’re the best! Thank you sir!” Hinata beamed at them both as he took the program from an outstretched hand.

“Of course. My pleasure.” The men began to walk away, resuming their conversation. “Iwa-chan, you always assume I’m going to be an asshole. So mean.”

“Why else would I call you Shitty-kawa? It wouldn’t be below you to deny a high schooler the last program.”

The conversation faded as they kept walking farther away. High schooler? Of course. They thought Hinata was a kid. He glared at their retreating figures, making a mental note that they both seemed to be quite tall. Classic tall person behavior, thinking that just because someone is short, they’re automatically a child. Hinata Shouyou was nineteen years of age, and proud of it.

He quietly seethed the whole way back to his seat, once again jumping over the backs of the chairs in favor of crossing the old man, who had now been joined by a second, even grumpier old man.

Kenma looked up at him, eyes finally parting from his beloved game. “Did you get… whatever it is you wanted to get?” He asked as he took back his jacket and stuck his arms through the sleeves.

“Yep!” Hinata waved the program around a bit. “But I think I only got it cause some guy thought I was a kid.”

“That’s probably because you look like one,” Kenma muttered under his breath.

“Waaah!” Hinata squawked, drawing the gazes of a few concerned patrons. “Don’t be a bully, Kenma.” He looked at him through his eyelashes, making the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster. “Choose kindness, Kenma.”

Kenma shoved him. “Shut the hell up, idiot.” Hinata just laughed.

They sat in amicable silence as the stands started to fill up, the sounds of laughter, of talking, of children shrieking and adults bickering filling the massive room from top to bottom.

Hinata flicked through the program, reading an interview with their coach, a vaguely intimidating young man with bleached hair, who seemed confident in the power of his team. There were ads for this and that, a full page spread dedicated to a new ramen shop that just opened a few blocks away. Hinata flipped the page again.

STARTING ROSTER FOR THE HOME TEAM

Ushijima Wakatoshi...................No. 1 (WS)*

Tendo Satori.............................No. 2 (MB)

Bokuto Koutarou.......................No. 3 (WS)

Nishinoya Yuu...........................No. 4 (L)

Tanaka Ryuunosuke...................No. 6 (WS)

Kageyama Tobio........................No. 7 (S)

Aone Takanobu..........................No. 8 (MB)

Hinata breathed out an exclamation. This was it. These were the seven best male volleyball players in the whole university. He brushed a finger over their names, trying his hardest to memorize which name went with which number went with which position.

“Ushijima Wakatoshi,” Kenma said from beside him, his focus on the paper in Hinata’s hands. “Ushiwaka. I heard about him in high school. He’s supposed to be crazy powerful. And Kageyama Tobio. He’s our age. Youngest on the team.”

“Uwaaah, Kenma! How do you know so much?” Hinata asked.

“Kuroo. He’s pals with number three. Bokuto. They did some camp or another together once.” Kenma said, staring out at the court.

“And you never told me?!? Kenma, I feel betrayed! Abandoned! Forsaken! I could have been hanging out with the coolest people ever.” Hinata huffed and puffed. He was very good at huffing and puffing when he was upset.

“Psh. You get to hang with me. I’m the coolest. Plus, all these guys can’t be all that cool,” Kenma scoffed, turning his eyes back to Hinata.

“What are you talking about?! They’re obviously super cool, and awesome, and cool…” Hinata let the sentence hang in the air, unfinished, as he imagined what it would be like to be a famous volleyball player, to have hoards of people calling his name, signing posters, photos, baby’s foreheads…

Kenma scoffed again. “No way. I’m sure everyone thinks they’re super cool, but I bet they’re all massive dorks. All they do is play volleyball. Not much time to practice socializing. Just look at Kuroo! He has that hair, and everyone assumes he’s some kind of god or something, but he’s just a big dork who memorized that periodic table song for fun. You’re probably cooler than all of them.”

Hinata grinned. “Thanks, Kenma. You’re pretty cool too, you know.”

Kenma flushed, never one for compliments. “I- that’s- shut up, Shouyou.”

Hinata laughed again and turned to watch the court. They had arrived too late to watch warmups, something Kenma had flat-out refused to do, because ‘why would I leave early just to watch a bunch of guys stretch’, but if the game started when it was supposed to, the players should be coming back onto the court just about-

Now.

Hinata watched, enraptured, as they strutted onto the floor of the gym. A cry arose from the stands and Hinata joined them, pumping his fist in the air. A couple of the players blew kisses or cheered back, much to the enjoyment of the crowd.

As the home team circled up, Hinata tried to find the starting lineup. Number one, the Ushiwaka Kenma had heard of was a massive man who looked like he could crush Hinata’s skull with one hand. Tendo was next to Ushijima, and he had an air of strangeness around him that Hinata couldn’t quite look away from. Bokuto was jumping in place, seemingly psyching himself up. Nishinoya and Tanaka were still blowing kisses at the stands before their coach smacked their shoulders. Aone was massive. He looked like a brick wall in human form. Six out of the seven. Who was he missing?

The answer came in the form of one final man jogging out from the locker room. Number seven. Kageyama Tobio. Youngest player on the starting line up.

Hinata Shouyou felt the floor fall out from under him as he stared at the single most attractive man he’d ever seen in his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the game itself, an akaashi appearance, Big Brother Bokuto, and an interaction between the two main characters? gasp!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was debating about whether i should switch POVs every chapter, but i just felt like it would feel disjointed and also i felt like hinata’s part of the story wasn’t quite over, so it’s gonna be more random.
> 
> once again thank you so much for reading and feel free to leave any feedback or suggestions! and thank you all for the kudos :-)

For the first time in their entire friendship, Hinata was glad that Kenma had brought his Switch when they went out. He always complained about it,  about how it distracts Kenma from the gift of friendship that Hinata is trying to give him, but today, he has never been more grateful. 

Because Kenma wasn’t aware of how Hinata’s eyes had been glued to the same person for the last ten minutes. 

He watched as Kageyama jogged to his teammates, greeted by a ruffling of hair and a slap on the back, as well as a stern look from the coach.

He watched as Kageyama pulled his calves up behind him, left then right, stretching his quads. 

He watched as Kageyama cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck, bouncing on his toes. 

Hinata literally could not look away. If someone asked him something right now, it’s unlikely that he would be able to form a coherent response. His mind was far too busy cataloging every detail it could about Kageyama Tobio, number seven. 

They way his dark hair fell into his eyes. The way his fingers drummed a pattern on the ball before he served. Every high five, clap on the shoulder, and offhand remark given or received by Kageyama Tobio was not missed by Hinata. 

He was tall. Hinata would probably estimate around six feet, give or take. He had dark hair, nearly blue under the fluorescents of the gymnasium. He wasn’t close enough to tell the exact shade, but he knew his eyes were blue as well. 

And that’s not even mentioning his volleyball skills. The look of unbelievably intense concentration in his eyes could be seen from all the way up in the stands. A powerful and precise jump serve yielded three service aces in a row.  _ In a row.  _ The way his tosses seemed to fly to exactly where they were supposed to be. He was incredible. 

The rest of the team was incredible, too. Kenma wasn’t kidding when he said this Ushiwaka guy was powerful. Hinata swore he saw the ball condense into a pancake shape when he hit a particularly nasty spike. The game was fast paced and intense, neither side letting up for even a second. 

Their libero seemed as short as Hinata, so he made sure to cheer extra loud whenever number four made an especially spectacular receive. Which was often. There wasn’t a weak link on their side of the court. Everyone excelled.

A sudden and painful sense of longing washed over Hinata. He had never been a part of a team before. The closest he’d gotten was when his middle school buddies finally agreed to toss for him after their respective practices. That ended later that week, thanks to a bloody nose and an hour long attempt to retrieve a volleyball from a tree. 

He’d never experienced the bond that this team had. He probably never would. 

Sure, he had comradery with his friends at the Karasuno Coffee House. They were all kind and funny and welcoming. But brewing a pot of coffee and hitting a spike just didn’t feel the same. 

The sense of longing rushed over him again, this time feeling less painful and more… desolate. 

“Kenma, I’m, uh…” Hinata started. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

Kenma merely nodded in response, completely oblivious to the outside world. With one last parting glance at Kageyama, Hinata stood up and reprised his awkward climb over the seats. 

He walked slowly up the stairs, his mind churning. Maybe he just wasn’t trying hard enough to bond with his coworkers? But he was! He and Yachi got lunch together every Friday, and Yamaguchi and Asahi were at his apartment just last week to play video games. They were bonding!

But there’s no stakes in a coffee shop. Sure, mid-day rushes sometimes feel like life or death, and there’s certainly something triumphant about perfecting a drink you’ve never made on the first go. But there’s no tournament. No neck and neck matches, no real  _ competition. _

_ Gah. I’m just thinking myself in circles. I feel like my brain is gonna overheat.  _

Hinata had reached the main floor of the gymnasium. He looked around for something indicating a bathroom, but saw nothing. Figuring that the gym is a big circle, he chose a direction and began to walk. 

After about two minutes of mindless meandering, he found a single stall, gender neutral bathroom tucked away between two food stands. After confirming with one of the vendors that it was available for customer use, he walked in and locked the door. 

Hinata strode to the sink and braced his hands against it, staring at himself in the mirror.

_ Pull yourself together, Hinata. You’ve never cared about this before. Why start now? You’re here with your best friend watching a game of volleyball. Just chill out! You should be enjoying yourself!  _

Feeling sufficiently self-scolded, he splashed his face with water to jolt himself back to the present. He walked a few steps from the sink before retracing and looking at himself in the mirror again. 

_ And try to be less of a creep. This poor Kageyama guy doesn’t need a stalker.  _

The walk back to his seat felt shorter than it did before. Hinata had barely sat back down in his seat before Kenma was looking at him.   


‘Looking’ doesn’t do it justice. Kenma doesn’t  _ look  _ at people. Kenma  _ observes.  _

And right then Kenma observed him very shrewdly. Hinata just waited as Kenma noticed the flush in his cheeks and the dampness of his hair. 

“ You were gone a while.” Is all Kenma said. 

“I couldn’t find the bathrooms. There’s, like, one stall tucked in between two food stalls. Totally inefficient.” Hinata offered Kenma a small smile, which, after a moment, he received with an equally subtle nod before returning to his game.

The match continued much as it had before, the ball sailing back and forth at insane speeds, each team fighting tooth and nail to keep the ball from touching the floor. Now, Hinata focused on watching the team as a whole rather than just the unfairly attractive setter. 

Their libero really  _ was  _ good, demonstrated by an amazing diving roll, which Hinata assumed was called the ‘Rolling Thunder’, based on the chant that followed it. The middle blockers were all incredibly tall and talented, and the wing spikers slammed the ball down so fast that it seemed to reverberate through the gym long after the play finished. 

The home team took the first set 25 - 18, which was pretty damn good. Hinata watched as they marched off the court, chatting merrily and clasping hands. 

“Kenma?” A voice came from behind them. “What are you doing here?”

Kenma and Hinata turned around in unison to see a tall man with dark hair and heavily lidded eyes looking at them with a slight smile on his face. 

“Akaashi. Hi,” Kenma said, seeming at least somewhat pleased to see him. Hinata looked back and forth between them, expecting some kind of explanation. Kenma knew very few people, and fewer still would he be happy to see in public. 

“Shouyou, this is Akaashi. He’s Bokuto’s roommate. I know him through Kuroo,” Kenma explained. Akaashi smiled at them and climbed over the seats to sit in the open spot next to Kenma. 

“Hi! I’m Hinata Shouyou!” He extended his hand, which Akaashi shook, his grip gentle. “Pleasure to meet you Akaashi.”

“Same to you, Hinata.” He turned to face Kenma again. “How has he been doing so far? I told him that I wouldn’t get here til halfway through, but I wouldn’t put it past him to start freaking out early.”

“He’s been fine. No noticeable slumps or mood swings. Probably because they’re winning by such a wide margin. They haven’t lost their lead for the whole set,” Kenma said. “If they were facing a better team, that might be a different story.”

Hinata was confused. But always one to speak his mind, he asked, “What’s going on? Who’s upset? Bokuto?” 

Akaashi responded without looking at him, his eyes still trained on the gray haired spiker. “Bokuto feels a lot of emotions very intensely. When he’s excited, that’s pretty much all he feels. But it’s extremely easy to knock him into slump. Something as small as a blocked spike will make him so moody, he’ll refuse to play for the rest of the game. We’ve known each other for so long that I’ve become something of his handler. I know how to cheer him back up. So when I can’t make it to a game, it’s anyone’s guess whether he’ll be fit to play.” 

“Wow. You guys must be super close,” Hinata said quietly. Akaashi just hummed in agreement. 

Hinata pondered that. What it must be like to be that close to someone. Kenma was his best friend, but Kenma had a boyfriend. And boyfriend outranks best friend. By like a mile. Hinata let out a long sigh, only half listening to whatever video game Kenma and Akaashi had started to discuss. 

Without realizing it, Hinata’s gaze had slipped, once again, to Kageyama. He was drinking water from a bottle with a logo from a local sporting goods store. Hinata would rather like to look like Kageyama. All dark colors and sharp lines and symmetry. He’d never admit it in a million years, but Hinata was tired of looking like a walking truffula tree from the Lorax. 

The second set came and went, another crushing victory, 25 - 17 this time, even better than before. Hinata watched longingly as they all celebrated with each other, bouncing around, knocking into each other, the tiny libero jumping onto someone’s back as they ran a lap around the gym. 

“Shouyou.” Kenma’s voice came from beside him, difficult to hear above the din of the cheering crowds. “Thank you for…. making me come out here, I guess. I sort of had fun.”

Hinata grinned at his friend. ‘Sort of had fun’ was Kenma’s way of saying ‘this was the highlight of my week, I will go willingly to the next game if you ask me’. And he would ask. Volleyball had always been a part of his life. Even if he’d never gotten the chance to join a real team, the allure of the game had always drawn him in. 

“Shouyou, we’re leaving.” Hinata looked over to find the seats next to him empty. He glanced behind him and saw both Kenma and Akaashi looming over him from behind. 

“Right! Sorry! I zoned out,” Hinata said apologetically, scrambling a bit awkwardly to stand with them. The trio started to make its way up the stairs, but it was difficult in the throng of people all pushing towards the same destination. It was like a school of fish, swarming the halls. Hinata’s short stature made him easy to look over, and thus easy to run into. By the time they reached fresh air, he had been thoroughly jostled and shoved all over the place. 

“Kenma, where did we park?” Hinata asked, craning his neck to look around the busy campus. 

“The car is still at the mechanics, idiot. We walked, remember?” Hinata flushed, embarrassed that he’d forgotten to quickly. 

“Oh. Right.”

“Do you need a lift home?” Hinata looked at Akaashi. “Bokuto’s my ride, but I’m sure he’d be happy to take you guys home.”

Kenma looked hesitant. He had a strange fear of encroaching on people’s hospitality, always afraid he was overstaying a welcome. “That’s really okay-”

He was cut of by a sudden downpour of rain. From seemingly nowhere, the heavens opened and buckets of water fell from the sky. There was a cry from the crowd of people standing outside, as they all rushed to shelter back inside the gym. 

Once they were safe from the rain and Hunata had shaken his hair out like a dog, much to Kenma’s annoyance, Kenma looked from the rain to Akaashi, then back to the rain. “Well… yeah, I guess we could use that ride.” 

Hinata smiled widely. Sure, the walk would have been nice if the weather was good, but this meant he got to ride in the car with a member of the university volleyball team! Hinata bounced on the balls of his feet as he tried to remember his favorite plays from the match. 

The three of them made small talk as they waited for the players to emerge. Hinata leaned that Akaashi was a couple years older than him and was studying literature and hoped to be an editor one day. They chatted about video games and their favorite restaurants. 

Just as they were running out of meaningless things to talk about, a resounding voice echoed through the nearly empty gym.

“Hey, hey hey! Akaashi!” Bokuto and his larger than life presence was making his way over to them, waving his hands above his head. “And friends? Kenma!” 

“Hi, Bokuto. Nice to see you again.” Kenma nodded at him, seemingly immune to his charms. 

“We’re giving them a ride, Bokuto. It’s pouring out and I don’t want to make them walk home.” It was more of a statement of fact than a request. 

“Of course! Who knows what illness they could catch if they’re exposed to the elements! And who might you be?” Bokuto turned to face Hinata, a look of curiosity playing across his sharp features. 

Hinata couldn’t speak. His mouth was hanging open like a fish, gaping at the larger man. He was completely and utterly starstruck. 

“...Little man? You okay?” Bokuto’s look of curiosity had morphed into one of concern. 

Thankfully, Kenma saved the day. “Don’t worry, he’s just starstruck. He’s a big fan of the team. This is probably overwhelming for him.”

Hinata had finally found his voice. And he used it to its full potential. 

“WOW! Bokuto-san, you were  _ amazing!  _ You hit all of those spikes like BWSSSH and BLAAM and they hit the floor like PWAH! You jump so high! You were flying! Like literally flying through the air!” Hinata punctuated his sentences by jumping around, probably looking extremely childish, but not caring in his excitement. “Bokuto-san you’re the best ever!”

Bokuto was taken aback for approximately two seconds before Hinata’s pure unadulterated joy rubbed off on him. 

“Thank you little man! Akaashi, why have me and the little man never met before? I love this guy!”

Akaashi shrugged. “I didn’t know him either. He’s Kenma’s roommate. He works at Karasuno, too.”

“Ah! Under the watchful eye of my good friend Daichi! I trust he’s keeping you in line?” Bokuto asked playfully, raising his bushy eyebrows. 

Hinata stared at him. “You know Daichi?” A nod. “Daichi knows you? Are you joking? Why does no one tell me these things?” Bokuto looked at Kenma for an explanation for Hinata’s nonsensical question. 

“He already got mad at me for not telling him that I knew someone on the team. He’s, like, your biggest fan,” Kenma explained. 

“Who’s our biggest fan?” A short man with hair that defied gravity with a died strip paused next to the Bokuto. 

“This guy right here!” Bokuto ruffled Hinata’s hair. “Little man, this is-”

“Nishinoya!” Hinata cut him off. Nishinoya looked at him in surprise. “Nishinoya-san you are the best libero in the whole entire  _ world _ ! The way you saved every ball like FWIP and PHSHAW! And that’s not even mentioning the  _ Rolling Thunder,  _ which is like the coolest name  _ ever!  _ You’re so cool!”

“Jesus, Shouyou, stop being a fan girl,” Kenma muttered, but there was no real venom behind his words. 

Nishinoya stared at a slightly out of breath Hinata before turining to Bokuto. “This guy is the best! Where did you find him?”

“Thank Akaashi. He found him, not me.”

Nishinoya clasped his hands to his chest and bowed deeply to Akaashi. “Thank you, Akaashi-san for giving us the gift of pure joy on this day. I am forever in your debt.” He turned back to Hinata, who was still beaming. “You really are the greatest, dude. Do you play?”

“Volleyball? I used to, kind of. I was never really on a-” he cut off when someone walked sharply into his shoulder. He stumbled and hissed when he felt a sharp sting in his tongue and tasted the coppery tang of blood in his mouth. 

A deep, velvety voice spoke from above him. “Get out of the way, dumbass.”

Hinata looked up to find himself staring at none other than Kageyama Tobio. His brain immediately short circuited and all words were lost in his throat. 

“I said move, dumbass.”

“I- excuse me?” The words had finally caught up to Hinata, who was appalled. Here was the most beautiful man he had ever seen, literally the man of Hinata’s dreams, and he had the personality and temper of a wrinkly toad. Hinata felt his fantasies being shattered and the broken pieces being shoved into his heart like shards of glass. 

Kageyama just scoffed and walked away, once more knocking his shoulder extra forcefully against Hinata’s as he strode past. He hadn’t even  _ looked _ at Hinata. Not even a passing glance. He stared at Kageyama’s retreating figure.

“ Oy, Kageyama, no need to be an asshole!” Shouted Bokuto, making Hinata jump. Kageyama didn’t even turn around, just lifted his hand and flipped them off without looking. 

“Hey, ginger, you’re bleeding,” Nishinoya said. 

Hinata swiped his finger over his bottom lip and started at the blood on it. “I’m fine. Just bit my lip.” He rotated his shoulder and winced. That was probably gonna bruise. 

“Sorry about that, little man. Kageyama’s a real douchebag sometimes. Well, all the time.” Bokuto patted him on his good shoulder. “Let’s get going, shall we? My car is in the lot. Special player privileges.” He wiggled his eyebrows comedically. 

Hinata was silent as they made their way to the car. Some small part of him had imagined a scenario where Kageyama would see him in the crowd and sweep him off of his feet. That he would bump into him (maybe not  _ quite  _ so literally) and that they would have some kind of whirlwind, shoujo manga romance. But alas, it seemed everything good about Kageyama Tobio had been concentrated in his looks, leaving a shriveled shell of assholery in place of a kind personality. 

Hinata spent the car ride home gushing with Bokuto about the match they’d just seen, and just volleyball in general. He was definitely  _ not  _ thinking about how oddly heartbroken he was that Kageyama was such a dick. Because Hinata would move on and forget about Kageyama Tobio. 

Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kageyama POV is next! look forward to it! and i don’t really have a posting schedule, maybe i will someday, but for the mean time, i’ll just to to upload as often as the story comes to me :-)
> 
> thank you all for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the day after the match. kageyama doesn’t really want to get coffee. but who can say no to bokuto?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is a kageyama POV! can you tell i’m better at writing for hinata lmao
> 
> thank you again for any kudos that you’ve given me! it may not look like a lot but it really makes my day. i love you all!

Kageyama never enjoyed the practice after a victory as much as everyone else. No one could ever focus well, and the entire experience just felt chaotic. He’d arrived at 6:30am for morning practice to find Tanaka and Noya sitting on the floor in the dark composing a poem for the team’s manager, giggling and squealing like school children. They often made something for Kiyoko after game day, to ‘thank her for all that is has done for us’. In all honesty, Kageyama thought it was incredibly stupid. But also incredibly entertaining. 

So if Kageyama had made extra sure to be quiet on his way to the lightswitch, purely to hear the high pitched shrieks from his teammates when he flipped the lights on, well, nobody had to know. 

He was tired and sore from the game yesterday, but one look at the basket of volleyballs in the corner sent a spike of adrenaline coursing though his veins. 

In all honesty, Kageyama was addicted to volleyball. 

Every serve, toss, and spike just made him crave it more. It was never ending. If he never stopped playing volleyball for the rest of his life, it would be too soon. And Kageyama was fine with that. He knew that he’d be unhappy doing anything else. He was aware that he was extremely lucky to have found his passion so early in life. Sure it had been a bumpy ride, but now he was  _ here.  _ In a place where it was not only acceptable, but  _ required _ to play volleyball for hours on end, every day. 

He thought about yesterday’s match as he slowly started to stretch, loosening his tight muscles. The plays that went well, the plays that could have gone better. What had worked, and what hadn’t. He barely even noticed that more team members had arrived until Noya started yelling. 

“Bokuto! Bokuto! Did you get Ginger home all right?” The small man yelled as he ran to his teammate.

Bokuto puffed his chest up and put his hands on his hips. Kageyama though he looked like a weird, off-brand Superman. “Of course I did, Noya! I would only treat our biggest fan with the utmost care and respect!” 

Biggest fan, huh? It was probably some lovestruck girl from Ushijima’s highschool who had followed him out here. Kageyama scoffed. 

“Wait a minute, hold the phone, Bokuto,” Tanaka stated, holding out his hands as he walked over to join Noya. “Who is this ‘biggest fan’ I’m hearing about? And why haven’t I met them?” He looked genuinely distressed that he didn’t know this stranger. 

“Well, I have a friend from high school training camp, who has a boyfriend, who has a roommate, who Akaashi bumped into at the match yesterday!” Bokuto said it like it was obvious, but Tanaka looked a little pained as he tried to decipher the sentence. 

“This isn’t fair! I want to meet him! Tell him to come to a practice sometime!” Tanaka insisted, presumably having given up on trying to figure out how Bokuto knew this guy. 

_ Great,  _ Kageyama thought to himself.  _ Another distraction from practice. Honestly, it’s like they don’t want to improve.  _ He grumbled silently to himself as he continued stretching, thinking black thoughts at this mystery fan who was ruining morning practice from afar. 

Practice after that went as it always did. Nothing big or life changing came out of the hour and a half that they got together every morning. Coach Ukai talked about the game, Ushijima said a few words, Tendo said even  _ more  _ words, and before Kageyama knew it, practice was over. 

“Kageyama!” He turned to find Bokuto yelling at him from across the gym, his head and shoulders poking out from the changing room. “Do you have a 9:00am class today?”

“No,” Kageyama replied curtly, unsure as to where the conversation was headed. 

“Great! We’re getting coffee!” Bokuto grinned at him. 

Kageyama did not want to get coffee with Bokuto. He wanted to go home and make coffee  _ there _ , where no one would speak to him and he could sit in brooding silence for at least twenty minutes. But if Kageyama wanted a functioning spiker at afternoon practice, he couldn’t turn him down. 

“Fine,” he grumbled. “But you’re paying.” Kageyama was sure as hell not about to pay for the experience of caffeinated Bokuto grilling him about his life story. Bokuto’s face was the picture of pure glee as he disappeared back into the changing room. It filled him with a sense of foreboding. 

Kageyama changed slowly, attempting to evade the inevitable. He was never one for conversation, and conversation with Bokuto was twice as draining. He often looked at Akaashi, who seemed much like him, quiet, a bit angry looking, and vaguely anti-social, and wondered how on earth he was so close with someone like Bokuto.

He’d told him as much once, on a team outing to a ramen shop. Akaashi had laughed quietly and told him that one day, he’d meet someone who wasn’t draining to be around, but actually filled him with energy. 

Kageyama had scoffed and responded with sarcasm before the conversation between them turned to different topics, but that night he had lain in his bed with his arm draped over his eyes, and tried to imagine caring so deeply for someone so full of intensity. He had thought of Tanaka and Noya, who seem to endlessly bounce energy off of eachother, or Ushijima and Tendo, which was a duo that shouldn’t have worked, but somehow did. 

No one seemed to hold that kind of appeal for Kageyama. No one energized him, like Akaashi had said. 

Thus, Kageyama accepted the fact that he would continue to be alone for the time being. He was fine. He liked being alone. It was calming. 

So needless to say, he didn’t jump for joy when he saw Bokuto waiting for him at the door. 

“Come on, Kageyama! Let’s get a good old cup of joe!” They waved farewell to the team members who were going to class and thanked Coach Ukai.

Bokuto and Kageyama chatted at they walked the five minutes to the coffee shop. Granted, the conversation was mostly one-sided, but Kageyama chimed in sometimes, even going so far as to tell a short story about his roommate’s antics.

“Bokuto, I really think you two would get along. He’s a little nutty, but he’s a good guy. Even if he does bring his boyfriend over every damn night,” Kageyama finished, heart beating a little extra fast after filling the air for longer than he was used to. 

Bokuto pulled the door to Karasuno Coffee House open and ushered Kageyama inside before stepping inside himself. The cafe wasn’t particularly busy, but it wasn’t empty either. Kageyama rubbed his frozen fingers together as he walked up to the register, glancing up at the menu on the back wall, even though he ordered the same thing every time. 

“Hello, welcome to Karasuno Coffee House! What can I get you both?” The small blonde girl stood behind the counter smiled up at them, flinching slightly when she met Kageyama’s eyes. He sighed. He knew he looked scary. He just didn’t know how to fix it. 

“I’ll take a large hot chocolate, please.” Kageyama looked at Bokuto curiously. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected him to order, but it wasn’t a hot chocolate. 

“Just a large black coffee, thank you.”

The girl, Yachi, if her name tag was to be believed, smiled at them. “For here or to go?” She asked.

Before Kageyama could even open his mouth, Bokuto was telling her they were staying here. 

_ So much for getting out of an interrogation about my life story,  _ he thought to himself. But maybe, just maybe, coffee with Bokuto wouldn’t be as bad as he thought it would be.

Kageyama had jinxed himself. When the blonde barista called his name to pick up his coffee from the counter, he made it there without a hitch, but on his walk back to his table, some important looking guy in a business suit with his nose buried in his phone barrelled into Kageyama, spilling his coffee down the front of his shirt. 

Somehow, Fancy Man’s suit was unscathed, so after a very ingenuine apology, he had dashed out of the coffee shop, leaving Kageyama with an empty mug, a shirt dripping black coffee, and a laughing Bokuto. 

The barista- Yachi- gasped and yelled for someone to fetch paper towels from the back. After a few seconds a blur of orange was in front of him holding way more paper towels than would be needed. 

Then the orange haired barista looked at him. 

He had wild hair that stuck out in every direction, like it was jumping to get off of his head. His eyes were big and doe-like, almost cartoonish in their size and innocence. His nose was small but his lips full. His pale skin was dusted with freckles, making it look like he’s been sprinkled with sunshine.

He was adorable. 

“Here you-” The barista stopped suddenly. His eyes narrowed, as if in recognition. Then contempt. “You!”

“I- what?”

“It’s you!” The man said again, as if that would clear anything up. Kageyama was just left more confused than before. 

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Kageyama was positive that if he had met him before, he would have remembered it. How would he forget such a face? 

The orange haired barista made an angry noise and threw the paper towels at Kageyama before storming off to the back room. Kageyama just watched him go, his brain muddled. It took him a few seconds before he remembered how to function and began to wipe off his shirt, though it didn’t really do much for the stain. 

Bokuto’s booming laugh cut through the coffee shop, turning the heads of anyone who wasn’t already staring. 

“Wow. The little man does it again. Never fails to make my day!” Bokuto’s words were barely decipherable between his bouts of laughter.

“What the hell are you talking about, Bokuto?” Kageyama asked sharply, scrubbing at the stain with renewed vigor. 

“That guy! Little man! He’s the guy from yesterday!” Kageyama stared at him. “Oh, come on Kageyama, drop the act. You remember him!”

The silence between them felt deafening. 

Bokuto whistled. “Wow. You really are an asshole, huh.” Kageyama immediately bristled, feeling defensive. Sure, he wasn’t the  _ kindest, _ but did he have to be so blunt about it? “Oh, calm down Kageyama, I’m just playing. You really don’t remember him? Well, let me refresh your memory. I was chatting with Akaashi, that kid, and his roommate after the match cause it was pouring rain and they needed a ride home.”

_ Needed a ride home…  _ a lightswitch went off in Kageyama’s brain. “ _ That  _ was the ‘biggest fan’ you and Noya were blabbering about during practice? He doesn’t seem like a very big fan to me.”

“Well, yeah, he’s not a fan of  _ you.  _ You knocked him over, insulted him, then flipped him the bird. I think that’s a one way ticket to Hate-ville. Population: You.” Bokuto chuckled at his own joke and walked over to ask the barista for another black coffee to replace the one currently decorating Kageyama’s clothes. 

Kageyama was floored. Had he really done that? No wonder the barista seemed to despise him. And he didn’t even remember it. He vaguely recalled Bokuto calling after him about something after the game was over and he was headed home, but he had been so wrapped up in his own mind that he’d been on total auto-pilot. 

Kageyama sat down at the table next to him and put his head in his hands. He listened to Bokuto speak to the barista, who seemed like a kind enough girl. Kind enough, at least, to put up with Bokuto, even if she seemed a little nervous about it. 

“Hello, Yachi, is it? Hi, Yachi. Could you tell Hinata that I would like to say hello? Yes, I’m a friend of his. Please, Yachi-”

“Bokuto?” It was a voice Kageyama didn’t recognize. But who knows, maybe he’d insulted this man and forgotten it, too!

“Daichi? You’re working today?” Kageyama lifted his head from his hands to watch Bokuto clasp hands with a tall, stern looking man from across the counter. 

The man named Daichi smiled. “Nah, just came in to drop off some paperwork. How have you been, man?”

“I’m great! My friend here has been better, though…” He trailed off as they both looked at Kageyama, slumped on the table with coffee covering his front half. He just raised a tired hand in greeting. 

Bokuto turned back to the man behind the counter. “Daichi, will you please tell Hinata that I want to say hi? But don’t say that it’s me! I want to surprise him!” He grinned like a little kid who’d just been surprised with sugar. Daichi grinned back before making his way to the back room. 

When Daichi returned a moment later, he had the barista in tow behind him. He-  _ Hinata,  _ Kageyama though he’d heard Bokuto say, seemed reluctant to be there, glaring daggers into Daichi’s back. Kageyama assumed the hostile look was meant for him. He put his head back in his hands, watching the scene from between his fingers. 

“Little man!” Bokuto greeted him loudly. 

Hinata whipped around, all anger seemingly forgotten. “Bokuto-san!?! What are you doing here?”

“Well, I came here with this dickwad,” he said gesturing with his thumb to where Kageyama was sitting. Immediately, the hostility returned to his face, eyes ablaze. “But I forgot you worked here, too! Me and Daichi go way back.” 

Hinata turned his gaze back to Bokuto. Despite the fact that he looked at Kageyama with such disdain, bordering on pure hatred, he couldn’t help but miss his gaze. He shook his head, trying to clear it. It would do no good to keep thinking about him like that. Hinata obviously didn’t like Kageyama. So thinking about him would just be detrimental at this point. 

There. Matter settled. Kageyama wouldn’t think about his wide eyes, or his fluffy hair that was probably very soft, or his hands which were tapping out a pattern on the counter, or-

_ No. Stop right there. No thinking.  _

Kageyama screwed his eyes shut in a futile attempt to banish all thoughts from his head, pressing his knuckles into his eyes until little spots of light started to dance around his eyelids, like stars doing ballet. 

He stayed like this until he heard a mug being placed down beside him and looked up, his eyes blurring slightly at the loss of pressure. He glanced at the cup of coffee replacing the one that had jumped ship.

“Ah, thank you. I’m sorry about the mess,” he said apologetically. And he really was. He had been so focused on trying to clean his shirt that he hadn’t noticed the small girl wiping the floor until it was too late to ask to help. 

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled brightly. She was kind of cute, he supposed. Her hair was shiny and the clips in it were nice. But in Kageyama’s eyes, she didn’t hold a candle to Hinata. 

“Well, let me pay for this-” he moved to get his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans when he felt her small hand on his arm. He looked up to see her smiling and blushing slightly. 

“It’s- It’s on the house. Cause- you know.” She gestured at his shirt. “Enjoy!” 

“Thank you, Yachi,” He smiled to himself, proud that he’d remembered her name. Yachi blushed and stuttered something that sounded like ‘you’re welcome’ before scurrying off behind the counter and busying herself with some kind of coffee making contraption. 

He took a long sip of the bitter liquid, relishing in the way it scalded his throat, just a little. Just under volleyball, coffee was one of Kageyama’s favorite things. He smiled again, just a small smile, but one of contentment. After all, he’d spilled the first coffee without ever getting to drink it, so this was his first sip of the day.

He looked up to find Hinata staring at him with an unsurprising, but still disheartening look of anger. Kageyama automatically narrowed his eyes in return. The natural response would be for Hinata to get even angrier, but instead he just looked… sad. 

A feeling of extreme guilt washed through Kageyama. Here he was, in Hinata’s work, glaring at him and forcing his coworkers to clean up  _ his  _ mess. He really was an asshole. 

_ You really are the King of the Court.  _

Kageyama stiffened, his old nickname suddenly intruding into his thoughts. He squeezed his eyes shut again and massaged his temples, trying very, very hard to block the flood of unwanted memories. When he opened his eyes again, Hinata was still staring at him, but his strange mixture of anger and sadness had changed to one of… curiosity? Concern? Kageyama didn’t have time to decipher it before Hinata was busying himself with the cash register. 

He glanced at his phone. 9:23am. If he wanted to shower and finish his procrastinated homework before his 11:30am class, he should probably leave now. He said as much to Bokuto, who bid him adieu in his boisterous fashion and warned him to watch out for falling pots of coffee on the street. Kageyama nodded to Daichi and thanked Yachi again for the drink. 

He looked around for Hinata, but the orange haired boy was nowhere to be seen. Feeling slightly disappointed, Kageyama left the Karasuno Coffee House. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading this new chapter! i’m like addicted to writing this so i’ve been just churning out material, but i can’t promise i can keep this up for long, i’m just feeling super inspired right now :-)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hinata can’t seem to forget about a certain asshole setter, no matter how hard he tries. it doesn’t help that fate seems to have taken a personal interest in them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little longer than usual, but i just got super excited and a bit carried away. but that just means more kuroo! and sorry, but as much as i love fanon sex god kuroo, as a science geek myself, Chemistry Nerd Kuroo is something i need. so, sorry but not really :-)
> 
> sorry for any spelling/grammar/continuity mistakes you might catch, i usually write pretty late (or really early depending on how you look at it) so no promises it’s all perfect.

“God _ damn!  _ He is the single biggest douchebag I have ever met! He’s actually the worst! If I had to choose between spending time with him and literally stabbing myself repeatedly with a dull knife, I’m not sure which one I would pick.” Hinata was sprawled on his couch, gesturing wildly as he complained. 

“Oh, come on Shouyou. He can’t possibly be  _ that  _ bad. Sure, he was rude when he bumped into you after the game but he was probably just all up in his head after the match,” Kenma said from the armchair across from him, sitting with his legs thrown over the side. 

“He didn’t even remember me! _He’s_ the guy who knocked me over and called me a dumbass, then flipped me off! And he didn’t even have the common decency to remember who I am? It’s like I’m a peasant and he’s some king.” Hinata sighed and shifted his body to face Kenma. “And not to mention, everything I did was super mega embarrassing! I think I said like, three words to him. Total. He must think I’m stupid or something.”

Flipping back to his back, Hinata grabbed a throw pillow, covered his face, and yeah,  he screamed a little. But only a little! And he deserved to scream right now. 

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you like him, Shouyou.” Hinata could hear the smirk in Kenma’s voice, so he took his screaming pillow and flung it across the room, hitting an unsuspecting Kenma squarely in the face.

“I do not like him! He’s the worst! Just because he’s super attractive doesn’t give him the right to be a terrible person! He’s such an asshole!” Hinata protested. When Kenma didn’t respond, he glanced over to find him already staring. 

“Super attractive, huh?”

Hinata screeched, loud enough that if they received a noise complaint, it wouldn’t be that surprising. “Kozume Kenma, if you repeat a single word of this conversation to anyone else I will single handedly bring about your destruction. I will smash your Switch with a hammer. I’m not afraid.” 

Kenma narrowed his eyes and stared at Hinata, daring him to go further. Hinata, who jumped at every opportunity for competition, stared back. 

A sudden knock at the door made Hinata jump slightly, but not enough to break eye contact. 

“Hey, Kenma? You’re home right?” A voice from the hallway called. 

“Yeah. It’s unlocked.”

The sound of the door opening and closing. 

“Kenma you should really lock this, it’s kinda dangerous…” the voice trailed off as a tall man walked into the living room. “Uh, hey guys. What’s, uh…. what’s going on?”

“Staring contest, Kuroo. Shouyou threatened my Switch with a hammer.”

“Metaphorically! It was an exaggeration! And I was provoked!”

“Well, can we take a pause? I need to talk to you about something,” Kuroo asked. 

Boyfriend trumps best friend. And even if they hadn’t been dating, Kuroo would probably beat Hinata for Kenma’s attention every time. That’s just the way they were. 

So unsurprisingly, with a final glare, Kenma turned to face Kuroo. 

“Great! Thank you for sacrificing your staring contest for me, it means a lot.” Kuroo offered an easy grin to them both. “So I was chatting with my good pal Bokuto, and he would like to pass a message on from the team.”

Hinata was immediately excited. What kind og message? What did it say? He could feel the nervous energy in his finger tips as they drummed against the couch. 

Kuroo pulled out his phone from the back pocket of his ripped jeans and began to read aloud, “Dearest Little Man. The men’s volleyball team of your university officially invite you to an soirée- oh, I am positive he doesn’t know what that word means- after our next game to hang out with us. The rest of the team is jealous that I am hanging with our biggest fan without them. See you, hopefully soon, Bokuto.”

Hinata jumped up from his seat, catapulting across the room. “Really, Kuroo? They want to see me? That’s amazing! They’re amazing! Oh,  _ wow _ , I’ll get to hang out with Bokuto-san, and Nishinoya-san, and-“ He stopped abruptly, suddenly remembering that  _ someone else _ would very likely be at the game, given he was on the starting line up. 

“Ah, Shouyou. You realized who else would be there, did you?” Kenma was smirking again, looking incredibly smug for someone still within pillow throwing distance. 

And throw a pillow Hinata did. But this time Kenma was prepared and blocked it with his forearms. Feeling defeated, Hinata slumped back onto the couch, putting his head in his hands. 

“I have to go, right? If I don’t go, I’m just letting him win. How could I let him win? He’s just a stupid douchebag with a meter long stick up his ass. I’m going,” Hinata muttered, more thinking out loud than anything else. 

Was he going to give up the chance to meet new friends because he was afraid some dick was going to be  _ mean to him?  _ How much of a spineless coward would that make him? 

Kuroo tentatively broke the silence that has fallen after Hinata’s mumblings had trailed off. “Uh, not to… intrude or something, but who are we talking about? Who’s winning what?”

Kenma must’ve seen the figurative smoke coming from Hinata’s ears as he pondered his dilemma and spared him from having to answer. “There’s a guy on the team who keeps running into Shouyou and but he’s total asshole. So if Shouyou goes to this ‘soirée’, he’ll have to see him, and he will inevitably be a douchebag again.”

Kuroo hummed thoughtfully. “How about this, Hinata. You stick with me the whole time and I’ll fend off anyone who tries anything funny. Me and Kenma can be like your knights!” He grabbed a chopstick from a bowl on the coffee table from some lunch past, and wielded it like a sword. “Begone, foul spirits! ‘Tis I, Kuroo the Great!”

“I’m literally gonna break up with you.”

“Oh, Sir Kenma, you mustn’t! We’ve a charge to protect! Don’t let your feelings get in the way of your duty!”

Hinata laughed and picked up the other chopstick from the bowl and brandished it in front of him. Kenma just rolled his eyes and watched as the two began fake sword fighting with chopsticks, laughing and jumping around the living room. 

An hour later found the three college students piled together on the couch, talking and laughing, all annoyances and frustrations temporarily forgotten. 

——————

A week later, Hinata and Kuroo chattered as they climbed the steps to the gym, but Hinata was only half listening to whatever outlandish story Kuroo was regaling him with. Kenma had failed a test, probably because he always played video games during lectures, despite how much he denied it, so he couldn’t make it. Thus, it was just Kuroo and Hinata. 

He shoved his hands farther into the pockets of his jacket and tried to make them stop shaking through sheer willpower. Surely nothing would happen, right? He would just ignore Kageyama and, with any luck, Kageyama would ignore him right back. Everything would be fine. 

He forced himself to really pay attention to the end of Kuroo’s story, as a distraction.

“...so I tell the professor, I say, ‘Ma’am, it’s okay that no one’s laughing at your chemistry jokes! Just keep telling them ’til you get a reaction!’ Get it, Hinata? Get it? Like a chemical reaction!”

Hinata laughed, but it was more because of how giddy Kuroo looked than the joke itself.

He pulled the large glass doors open and took a steadying breath before stepping through. Immediately and of their own volition, his eyes strayed to where he had stood with Bokuto, where he had first met Kageyama. He rolled his shoulder instinctively. Even though it had almost entirely healed up, it still had a faint bruise from where he had hit it. Or, rather, been hit. 

He shook his head, trying to clear it. He clenched and unclenched his hands a couple of times. He took deep breaths. Nothing seemed to work. 

After they scanned their IDs, the two found seats- both mutually agreeing on a front row seat right next to the cheering section. They talked about everything and nothing as they waited for the game to start, until Hinata was bouncing in his seat with a dangerous mixture of nerves and anticipation. 

When the players ran into the gym from the locker room, Hinata couldn’t stop himself from seeking out Kageyama. He was in the back of the group, looking intensely focused. He was just as attractive as he had been in the last game. And as he’d been at the coffee shop, even with a massive stain on his shirt. It was unbelievably unfair that someone with such a brash personality got to be so good looking. 

The game passed in a blur of serves and spikes. Any nerves Hinata felt were overshadowed by the allure of volleyball. By the end of the game, he had almost completely forgotten what he was so nervous about in the first place. 

Almost. 

A little corner of his mind was still squirming with the idea of coming face to face with Kageyama Tobio, Asshat Supreme. What would he say? Would he just ignore him? What would  _ Hinata _ say? Should he try to talk to him, to smooth things over? That sounded like an incredibly bad plan, all things considered. 

And some part of Hinata knew, deep down, that if he tried to look him in the eyes, his knees would go weak and he’d start to stutter, losing all composure. Because no matter which way you sliced it, despite all the signs that nothing would come of this, Hinata was still incredibly attracted to Kageyama. 

Back at the coffee shop, last week, when he’d come out of the back room to see Bokuto, Kageyama was sitting at a table, shoulders slouched, fists pressing into his eyes, like he was trying desperately to just  _ disappear.  _ He had looked incredibly human in that moment. It was a little scary.

And then Yachi came out with his coffee, and he’d  _ smiled  _ at her. The douchebag had  _ smiled.  _ Hinata tried to play it off as lingering anger, but a small part of him knew he was jealous. That maybe Kageyama  _ was  _ a good person. That he could be kind and gentle. It was just Hinata that made him such a dick. The thought made him feel slightly ill. 

They won the game. Not in straight sets this time, but a victory nonetheless. Hinata and Kuroo cheered loudly with the crowd and waved as they jogged off to the locker rooms. 

The pair made their way through the crowds, purchasing a bag of chips each from the food stands before sitting side by side against the wall, waiting for the team to come out. 

The space was almost completely empty no less than ten minutes after the game finished. Kuroo was tapping away at some mindless game on his phone while Hinata drummed his fingers on his knees. 

“Kuroo, I’m gonna use the bathroom really fast, I’ll be right back.”

“Did that large soda catch up with you?” Kuroo asked, laughing while he continued playing his game. 

Hinata just smacked his shoulder in response and got up. After a few minutes of searching and backtracking, he found the hidden stall between food stands again. 

As he stepped out, his phone buzzed in his back pocket. Not wanting the team to show up while he was gone, he didn’t stop walking and just pulled out his phone. 

**kenma =^.^= :** just totally bombed that retake. kill me now. 

**me :** awe :’-(

**kenma =^.^= :** wtf is that

**me :** it’s me crying 4 u 

**kenma =^.^= :** it looks creepy

**kenma =^.^= :** so ig it does look like you lmao

Hinata began typing out another emoticon, rounding the first corner to get back to the gym, but suddenly ran into something very solid. And very human. 

“Fucking hell! Can’t you watch-“

_ No way. No goddamn way.  _

Hinata stared at Kageyama Tobio. Who was staring back at him.

And Hinata had just barreled into him. 

This wasn’t like last time. Last time, Hinata had been innocent, he had just been standing there when Kageyama had hit him. This time, Hinata had been texting Kenma, completely oblivious to his surroundings. This time was his fault. 

“I’m so sor-“

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kageyama said, not quite yelling, but certainly being very loud. 

“Bokuto. He, uh, he invited me to hang out with the team. Your team. The volleyball team. After the game. Today. Now.” Great. He sounded like an idiot. Like a blustering idiot who can’t see where he’s going. 

“Bokuto? I’m gonna fucking kill him,” Kageyama muttered, looked away from Hinata to seethe, which Hinata took as an opportunity to get the hell away from the situation, even if a stupid, masochistic part of him wanted desperately to stay. 

“I’m gonna, uh, go now. I’m sorry!” He squeaked before walking away as fast as he could without running. Only when he glanced behind him and saw that Kageyama was gone did he slow his pace. 

_ ‘I’m gonna fucking kill him.’  _

Well, if Hinata had any questions about just how Kageyama felt about him, they had now been answered. 

A little tip for anyone looking to date? If someone sees you and their first thought is of murder, chances are they’re not into you. 

Was it really so bad that Hinata was here? Was he really  _ that  _ annoying? 

_ I guess so.  _

Hinata was feeling well and truly glum when he turned the final corner to get back to Kuroo, who was still slumped against the wall, presumably playing the same game on his phone. He looked up when Hinata turned the corner, immediately noticing how down he looked. 

“Whoa, what happened Hinata? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Kuroo,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I’m okay, I promise.”

“Seriously. What happened?” The look of genuine concern on Kuroo’s face was too much for Hinata’s flimsy mental shields. 

“Kageyama Tobio. The asshole on the team that me and Kenma were telling you about. I ran into him. Again. I was texting Kenma and I walked right into him. He didn’t even let me say sorry! He just started swearing and being generally pissed at my existence.” Hinata joined Kuroo back on the floor and rested his chin on his knees. “I mean, I knew he didn’t like me much, but it felt like kind of an overreaction.”

“Damn. I guess the knightly protection squad wasn’t foolproof after all.”

“Guess not.”

They sat in silence for a few moments. Hinata tried desperately to get his mind off of Kageyama, and get himself excited for seeing the team. He took all of his many conflicting feelings about Kageyama Tobio and shoved them into a little locked box in the corner of his heart, where he would deal with them later. Or maybe not. Probably not. Instead he tried to remember all the best plays from the game so he could talk to the players about them. 

“Hey, hey, hey! Kuroo and the little man! What’s up guys?!” 

Hinata scrambled up to see Bokuto strolling out of the locker room. 

“Bokuto-san! What an amazing game! You guys were incredible! All  _ bwoosh  _ and  _ pow! _ ” Hinata gushed, running up to the taller man, who ruffled his hair in return. All thoughts of Kageyama Tobio had suddenly vanished.

Well, almost all. 

“Little man, your compliments are truly the greatest. Come on, you gotta meet the rest of the team!” The other players were slowly making their way out of the locker room, all chatting amongst themselves. 

“Guys!” Bokuto called to his teammates, his booming voice drawing their attention immediately. “This is Hinata Shouyou. Our biggest fan.” 

Six pairs of eyes were suddenly boring into him. He waved shyly. 

“You’re tiny.” 

Hinata whipped around so fast, it was shocking he didn’t break his neck. All meekness was immediately forgotten as he stared at the massive man before him. Some part of his brain knew him as Aone Takanobu, middle blocker, but he was too distracted by his words to fully recognize him. 

“I’m 162.8 centimeters! That’s barely short! But that doesn’t even matter because I can jump super high! Who even needs to be tall when you can jump?!?” He was pointing his finger aggressively at Aone, who just stared at him. He was about to continue when he felt a pair of big hands on his shoulders. He looked up to see Bokuto smiling. 

“Aone meant no harm, little man. He’s not the best with words, but I promise, he’s been dying to meet you.” Bokuto released him and patted him on the back. 

“And you are short, Chibi-chan.” Hinata stiffened and turned slowly to face Kuroo. “That’s why your jumps are so impressive,” he finished with a smirk. 

Hinata pointed a menacing finger at him. “Thin ice,” was all he said before spinning around to face the players again. 

“I  _ love  _ this kid!” Laughed one of the players to Hinata’s right. “Noya, you told me he was cool, but you didn’t tell me he was gonna  _ threaten Aone!  _ This guy is the best!” 

“Alright, alright. Hinata, I’ll introduce you to these bozos,” Bokuto said. He pointed to the player who had just spoken. “This is-“ 

“You don’t have to do that, Bokuto-san! I’m pretty sure I know them already! Well, their names at least. And since I’ve seen games I know what they look like. Like, you’re Tanaka-san! You’re an amazing wing spiker! You’re so cool during games, all your spikes are like  _ PWAH  _ when they hit the floor!”

Tanaka looked shocked. “I- really? I look cool when I play?”

“Of  _ course! _ You look so cool! And you’re Nishinoya-san, but we’ve already met, so I don’t have to tell you how absolutely  _ awesome  _ your receives are. And you’re Aone-san. I’m gonna let your short comment slide because I am also awesome, but that doesn’t even matter because it’s so cool to actually meet you! I heard about you in high school, you know, ‘the iron wall’ and all that but I never saw you in person because I never got to be on a real team. But now you’re here! And you’re just as amazing as everyone says you are!” Hinata knew he was rambling but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. 

Aone just looked stunned, but Hinata didn’t give the team a moments rest before he launched into his next speech. “And you’re Tendo-san! Your guess blocks are actually the coolest thing ever! The way you just  _ know _ where the ball is gonna be, it’s like magic! You’re like an epic magician, Tendo-san!”

“Th-thank you, kid.”

Hinata wheeled around so he was facing the team’s captain. “My friend Kenma told me about you before the first game I came to, and I thought ‘ _ well, no one can be  _ that  _ good’  _ but you so totally are! The way you serve and spike like  _ KABOOM,  _ and you’re so tall! I can tell why you’re the team captain  _ and  _ the ace! If I could be half as good as you one day, it’d be the best day of my life!”

Hinata bounced on his toes, slightly out of breath as the team just stared at him. 

And stared. 

And stared. 

“Did- did I say something wrong?” Hinata asked nervously, after no one said a single word for what felt like a hundred years. 

Kuroo put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re fine, Hinata. Just give them a minute. Your compliments can be kind of… intense. But in a good way! Just… give them a second to recover.”

“Oh. Okay.” Hinata resumed bouncing on his toes. 

“Noya.”

“Yes, Tanaka?”

“I think I have found my platonic soulmate.”

Noya slapped his teammate on the back. “Idiot, we already decided that  _ we _ are platonic soulmates!” 

“Yes, but that’s in the past. Hinata is the present.”

Hinata grinned at him.

Bokuto spoke from behind him. “Didn’t I say this guy was great? Didn’t I say he was awesome?”

“Uwaaah, Bokuto-san, you’re too nice to me!” Hinata implored. Sure, Hinata enjoyed getting complimented as much as the next guy. But he didn’t get many growing up, as he was too hyperactive to focus on one person for long enough for them to say anything. So as he got older, he learned how to find joy in  _ giving  _ compliments instead.

“Pssh. Everyone else just isn’t nice enough!” Bokuto clapped his hands together loudly, which was unnecessary, considering that most of the team was still staring at Hinata. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

The sudden sound of a door being opened, and a vaguely familiar voice calling “I left my jacket in the gym, has anyone- Oh. You’re here.”

For the second time in less than an hour, Hinata was staring at Kageyama Tobio. 

“Kageyama, have you met Hinata Shouyou?” A deep voice sounded from out of Hinata’s field of vision. He turned to see Ushijima glancing between them. 

“Yeah, we, uh…” Hinata cleared his throat. “We’ve met. A couple times.” 

“Are you coming on our outing, Kageyama?” Tendo asked from beside Ushijima. “We’re gonna have a blast with our biggest fan!”

Kageyama glanced at Tendo before looking back at Hinata. His face hardened.

“No,” he said flatly. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning.” 

And with that, Kageyama Tobio left. 

Hinata stared at the door, feeling a little lost. 

“Oh, well. Shame. Nevermind him, Hinata! We have a soirée to attend!” Tendo stepped forward and pushed Hinata forward, steering him by his shoulders. 

“Tendo, no offense, but I’m not sure you know what soirée means, either.”

“Ah, but dear Kuroo! Where is the fun in knowing what every word you say means? I’m the guess monster for a reason, you know,” he responded with a wink. “If Bokuto calls it a soirée, so shall I!

The ice cream cheered Hinata up. As did the meat buns. As did the light conversation that never seemed to let up. As did the banter between teammates. 

For the first time in his life, Hinata truly felt that he was a part of a team. The feeling of friendship, of trust. It was indescribable. 

But there was a nagging thought at the back of his mind, one that never seemed to fully disappear, no matter how much he talked or laughed. 

What is a team without its setter?

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the scene where hinata meets the team is vaguely inspired by “our favorite little crow” by spacepeeps, it’s literally my favorite fic of all time, i love it so much please go check it out! 
> 
> thank you all again for the kudos! it really truly means so much to me, you’re all wonderful and amazing and lovely! i love you all! 
> 
> as always, any feedback or suggestions is welcomed and appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kags reflects on the days events and the plot furthers some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y’all don’t even try to understand the continuity here I’m not exactly sure myself what happened in high school vs. middle school or where everyone went. apologies. 
> 
> but i hope most everything makes at least vague sense. if you have any questions, comment and i’ll do my best to answer. 
> 
> also - i am a total sucker for domestic kageyama & oikawa best friends, so expect more of that.

Kageyama slammed the door to his apartment shut with far too much force than was necessary. But he was frustrated, and also  _ freezing _ cold. He’d never actually gotten his jacket from the gym, so he had walked one very chilly mile home in a short sleeve t-shirt. 

“Tobio-chan?” A voice called from inside the apartment. “Are you home?”

“Yeah,” he yelled back bluntly. He wasn’t in the mood to talk, though he had a feeling a very long conversation was coming his way. 

The head of his roommate peeked into the living room. 

“Good! Tobio-chan, are you ever going to- Are you alright?” Oikawa asked, most likely noticing the look on Kageyama’s face. 

“I’m fine,” he replied bluntly, sinking into the couch. Oikawa took a few tentative steps toward him.

“You’re not fine, Tobio-chan. You look like you want to curb stomp a puppy. Do you want to talk about it?”

“You wouldn’t get it.” He had argued with himself about this on the walk home. Oikawa was fairly good at giving advice, but on the other hand, he was in love with his high school sweetheart, so Kageyama wasn’t sure how much of a help he would be in this particular scenario. 

“I can always try,” Oikawa said, taking the seat next to Kageyama and gathering the blanket around his legs. 

Kageyama has met Oikawa in middle school, where they had played volleyball together through high school. Though Oikawa was a few years his senior, when they ended up at the same university, it was nice to know someone, and when Oikawa had offered him a room in his apartment, he’d readily agreed. Even though Oikawa spent half his time at his boyfriend’s apartment. Why _they_ hadn’t just moved in together was a mystery. 

Their relationship had a rocky start. They both played setter, and while Oikawa was an incredibly hard worker, Kageyama had raw talent. This had caused an immediate rift between them, pitting them as competitors instead of teammates. High school was better, though they only played together for a year before Oikawa graduated. 

They should’ve been on the college team together. They should’ve, but during his first year in university, Oikawa re injured his knee, practically nullifying any chances at a career in professional volleyball. So instead of just sitting on the sidelines, he dove headfirst into his studies. It was extremely helpful to have someone so intelligent on hand for someone as… academically challenged… as Kageyama. 

Oikawa didn’t spite Kageyama for playing when he couldn’t. It just strengthened their friendship, to be able to be together without the pressing weight of rivalry. 

“Oikawa it’s just… you and Iwaizumi, you’re so perfect. I can’t do that. I can’t just… be with someone. I always fuck it up,” Kageyama muttered. 

“Is Tobio-chan having an affair of the heart?” Oikawa asked, saccharine sweet.

“If you call it that again, I really won’t tell you.”

“Fine, fine, sorry! Shutting up and listening now!”

Kageyama readjusted the blanket so that it was covering his legs as well. He’d gotten better at expressing his feelings, and Oikawa truly was an amazing listener nodding and gasping and laughing at all the right moments. But he still couldn’t look him in the eye while he spilled his heart. 

He told him about the guy named Hinata Shouyou who he had supposedly ran into, insulted, then flipped off, all without remembering. 

He told him about how he had gotten covered in coffee and come face to face with him. And how he’d royally fucked up that interaction. 

He told him about how he hadn’t quite been able to get Hinata Shouyou off of his mind.

Which brought the story to today.

“Tobio-chan, no offense, but I don’t think you can get any worse than you already have.”

Kageyama just scoffed. “Sure. So, I’m walking out of the locker room, not really looking where I’m going, when suddenly someone runs into me. And who else would it be? And he looks at me like a deer caught in headlights, so I just blurt out of the first thing I thought of.”

“Which was?” Oikawa prompted. 

Kageyama dropped his head into his hands. “What the fuck are you doing here.”

Oikawa sucked a breath in through his teeth. 

“So he starts stuttering, probably because I literally look like the grinch, and he says he’s there because Bokuto invited him. So what I’m _thinking_ is, ‘Fuck you, Bokuto, for dangling the guy I can’t stop thinking about but also hates my guts right in front of me.” But what I  _ say  _ is “I’m going to fucking kill him.” 

“Bokuto. Is that the really tall one?”

“No, no. Bokuto is the loud one.” Kageyama holds his hands up in a poor recreation of Bokuto’s spiky hair. “The one who kinda looks like an owl.”

“Ah. So Hinata probably heard something along the lines of, ‘I’m going to kill Bokuto for letting you in my sight, you disgusting wench.” Kageyama nodded morosely. “So, is that it? He ran off?” 

Kageyama sighed. “Well, yeah. I mean no. Yes, he ran off, but no, that’s not it. I forgot my jacket in the gym, so after I was a quarter of the way home, I remembered and I went back to grab it, thinking everyone would be gone, but they were all still there. I don’t even remember what I said to him, but it was probably idiotic. And rude.”

“Chances are.” Oikawa sighed and rested his cheek on the knee he had pulled up to his chest. “Well, Tobio-chan, I can’t say I’m extremely pleased to hear that this is how your first real crush is turning out.”

“It’s not a- we’ve seen each other like four times. And we’ve never had a real conversation. You can’t just call it a… that.” 

“A crush, Tobio-chan? I think it is. I mean, it’s not like you have anything to go off of, so I think I can probably tell better than you can.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? What if I had a crush in high school and didn’t tell you!” Kageyama snapped. 

“Did you?” Oikawa asked, looking fairly smug. 

“...No.” 

“Right. Well then, as the person here with the most romantic experience, I say that you have a crush.” Oikawa grinned, most likely overjoyed that his previously loveless roommate was now in the midst of a real life soap opera. 

Soap operas are a lot less fun when it’s  _ your  _ life. 

Oikawa patted Kageyama’s knee. “First, you need to take a shower. You smell  _ very  _ bad. Then, we’re going to go get dinner. We can try that new ramen place that’s in the game programs!”

A shower did sound incredible. And dinner with Oikawa wouldn’t be too bad. “Alright. Leave in, what, an hour?”

Oikawa agreed and ushered him into the bathroom, claiming he smelled like ‘eau de sweaty man’, which Kageyama didn’t quite understand, but sounded bad. 

As the hot water pounded against his back and neck, Kageyama’s thoughts drifted back to his encounter with Hinata. He had looked so  _ frightened _ . Kageyama knew he was scary looking, his nose was too sharp and his eyes were too angled. And his mouth was twisted in a permanent scowl.

But to be perfectly honest, he looked scarier when he smiled. 

After his shower, he rifled through his drawer, mentally making a note to do laundry soon. Remembering the chill of his previous walk, but also remembering his lack of the only jacket he owned, he sighed and pulled on an old hoodie. 

Kageyama didn’t like to wear hoodies anymore. When he was in high school, he had worn hoodies everyday in class so that he could pull the hood over his eyes to hide himself from his classmates. Ever since he was given the cruel nickname “King of the Court”, he had become incredibly socially anxious. 

That’s bound to happen when you find out that the only people you considered to be your friends not only didn’t reciprocate, but in fact all secretly hated you. He became paranoid that everyone in his class was staring at him and laughing, so he wore hoodies to hide his face. 

His fingers danced around the familiar strings hanging down his chest. It was slightly tighter now, not the massive fit it had been back then. That was a nice reminder that things had changed. He had a good team now.  _ He  _ was better now. He had good friends who took him out for dinner to cheer him up when he was a total idiot.

Oikawa was standing against the door, scrolling on his phone, but looked up when he heard Kageyama come into the living room. 

“Let’s go!” He said cheerfully, holding the door open for Kageyama. 

It was a short walk to the new ramen place. The wait wasn’t long and the food was good. The conversation was light, and thankfully didn’t turn to Hinata, or Kageyama’s abysmal love life in general. It would have been an overall very pleasant experience, if not for...

“Oikawa-san? Kageyama?”

The pair turned to face the source of the voice. Standing at the far end of the table was Yuutarou Kindaichi, Kageyama’s former teammate. 

The first one to call him the King of the Court. 

The one who started it all. 

And also the one who apparently didn’t realize how much he had wrecked Kageyama’s social life and mental health, given that he was smiling warmly, like he was greeting old friends instead of, well, Kageyama. 

“Kindaichi! Hello! How have you been?” Oikawa asked, the picture of courtesy and politeness. Kageyama on the other hand was still sitting completely frozen, unable to move enough to even wave his hellos. 

The two of them chatted for a few moments as Kageyama slowly thawed out. He thought hopefully that he would be able to get out of this interaction without speaking a single word, but he should have known better. The universe was not so kind to him. 

“And Kageyama! What’s up with you, King? Got any new subjects to terrorize?”

Kageyama felt the breath stop in his chest. He could almost feel the pain of his nails digging crescent shapes into his palms, but he couldn’t feel  _ anything.  _ It was like he went numb. 

Sure, he’d thought about his nickname a lot in the last year since he graduated. He whispered it to himself in the darkness of his room, when nightmares of laughing faces plagued his dreams. 

But it had been so long since anyone had used it so casually. He wasn’t sure if Kindaichi knew what he was doing when he said that. Maybe he knew exactly what he was doing. 

Kageyama heard his set hit the floor, unspiked. 

Though his thoughts were spiraling down into a pit of bottomless anxiety at a hundred miles an hour, only about a second had passed since Kindaichi had turned the conversation to Kageyama. He forced his mouth to open and respond. 

“I’m fine,” he said. “Thank you,” he added as an afterthought. 

“I hear you’re on the volleyball team. Well, tell your teammates that if they need advice on how to handle your tyrannical ways, they can give me a call.” 

With that, Kindaichi said his goodbyes and left. 

Kageyama was lucky he had the sense to move his bowl before he dropped his head on the table. He barely noticed as Oikawa paid the bill and cleared their table. Kageyama’s bowl was only half finished, but he’d lost his appetite. 

He only raised his head when he felt Oikawa pulling at his arm. 

“Come on, Tobio-chan! Quit your moping! Or, at least quit your moping  _ here.  _ It’s much more comfortable to mope at home.” He pulled his arm again, this time hard enough that Kageyama begrudgingly got up. 

“Now, the ice cream selection at home is quite poor. I suggest we make a quick trip to buy something sweet on the way home!”

“I thought we had the good chocolate ice cream in the freezer?”

“We did. I ate it. So we can buy more! Come along, Tobio-chan!” Oikawa settled his hand on Kageyama’s arm, effectively steering him out the door and into the street. Since Kageyama rarely left the house for anything other than classes and practice, he thus had no idea where the store was located, and let himself be dragged along by his elbow. 

“So, is that the first time you’ve seen Kindaichi since you graduated?” They walked into the supermarket, heading straight for the frozen aisle. 

“No, I’ve seen him a couple of times. And each time just gets worse and worse.”

“Hmmm. From your stories, he seems rather annoying.” Oikawa tilted his head as he stared at the extensive ice cream selection. 

“Like you wouldn’t believe. You know what pisses me off the most about him? His hair. It’s the only thing I can see when I look at him. You can’t have annoying hair and an annoying personality! Pick one,” Kageyama grumbled. 

“Tobio-chan, you choose the ice cream. I can’t decide.”

Well, I don’t know what to get either!” Oikawa made a face at him, but Kageyama just stuck us tongue out and looked back at the ice cream.

“I’m sorry, did you need to get something from here?” Oikawa turned his head to face someone behind him. “Wait a second, I know you!”

Kageyama stiffened.  _ When I turn around, Hinata will not be standing there. _

When he turned around, Hinata was standing there. 

Kageyama watched as Hinata’s eyes looked from Oikawa, to Kageyama, to Oikawa's hand, still resting on Kageyama’s elbow. 

Oblivious to the sudden tension, Oikawa continued. “I know! You were at the match last week! I gave you my program! Tobio-chan, did you see him at the game?”

Kageyama didn’t take his eyes off of Hinata as he responded. “Yeah, I, uh, I did meet him. Oikawa, meet Hinata Shouyou. Hinata, this is Oikawa.”

Realization dawned in Oikawa’s eyes. He quickly withdrew his hand from it’s place on Kageyama’s arm and smoothly extended it out for a handshake, which meant Hinata breaking their tense eye contact. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Hinata! I’m Oikawa Tooru. I’m a third year at the university. Here, Tobio and I will get out of your way.”

“Oh, no, that’s okay. They… they don’t have the flavor I wanted anyways.” Hinata turned to Kageyama again. He was still adorable. But now, he didn’t look angry or full of the hate, which Kageyama had come to expect. He almost looked like he was… about to cry. “I’ll see you around. Probably.” With a nod, Hinata walked off, faster than a normal pace. 

Only when he’d turned the corner did Kageyama respond with a barely audible, “See you.”

After a moment, Oikawa simply said,  “He seems nice.”

Kageyama was silent. 

When in doubt, Kageyama brooded.

When he didn’t study for a big test, he brooded. 

When he lost the match point, he brooded. 

When he bumped into his crush in a grocery store, it seemed only right to brood. 

“Alright, Tobio-chan. We’re buying two cartons of ice cream. I’m gonna call Iwa-chan, and he can bring over some chips, and we’ll watch that horrible crime show that you love. Does that sound good?”

Kageyama just nodded, not trusting his vocal chords. 

The walk home from the store was silent. When they arrived back at the apartment complex, Oikawa’s long time boyfriend, and Kageyama’s former teammate, Iwaizumi Hajime, stood outside, holding a comically large bag of barbecue potato chips. 

“I don’t understand why  _ you  _ couldn’t just buy the chips, Shittykawa. You were already at the store,” Iwaizumi asked when they were in hearing distance. 

“ _ Because,  _ Iwa-chan,  _ that  _ store only has teeny tiny bags of chips! How will poor Tobio-chan here eat his feelings away when all he has is a portion made for a mouse?! It’s impossible that way.”

“Right,” Iwaizumi replied with a knowing glance at Kageyama. They both knew that when Oikawa decided something was better one way, nothing could dissuade him. So it was better (and easier) to just give up early rather than fight.

The show had just enough plot to keep Kageyama distracted, but not too much as to get his feelings involved. It was the perfect balance, which was what made it his favorite show. 

He only got to watch it when Oikawa stayed at Iwaizumi’s apartment, though, because Oikawa was a complete wimp when it came to gore. 

Anytime a killer so much as raised a knife, he would squeal and hide his eyes with his hands, curling up even tighter into the ball of blankets he had made. Kageyama was somewhat grateful for the source of entertainment brought by Oikawa’s squeamishness. Plus, it was almost heartwarming to know that Oikawa was willing to sit through multiple hours of this show, just to make Kageyama happy.

He mostly appreciated the cut and dry solving aspect of the show. Every problem has a solution, and it’s only a matter of time before the solution is found and the problem is solved.

Kageyama tried to create an analogy in his head for his current situation. Would he be the killer? He certainly looked like one. And, around Hinata, he acted like one. Or would Hinata be the stalker, given that he kept popping up in Kageyama’s life? 

In the end, the analogy creation was the cherry on top of a mentally draining day. He’d won a match, run into Hinata, gotten a quarter of the way home before turning around for his jacket, ran into Hinata again, walked home jacket-less and freezing, spilled his heart to Oikawa, was bombarded by Kindaichi and the drudge of memories he had brought with him, and run into Hinata a third time. 

What a day. 

So it wasn’t a surprise to anyone when he fell asleep with his head leaning against the back of the armchair. 

Once they were positive he was really asleep, Oikawa filled Iwaizumi in on Kageyama’s situation. They both stared at the sleeping boy, who looked much calmer in the throes of a dream. 

Silently, they both wished the best for him and his love life. 

Lord knows he needed it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmm... i wonder how a certain redhead could have misunderstood that conversation in the grocery store... hmmm.....
> 
> thank you all for the kudos!!! and just reading in general. the fact that people are actually choosing to read this is crazy to me. you guys are awesome!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hinata cries a little. then has a lovely day at work. (lovely is subjective)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’ve always felt like hinata is way more insecure than he let’s on, so this is me lowkey projecting my insecurities into hinata. you’re welcome? i’m sorry?
> 
> i know some of you enjoyed kageyama’s adoptive parents in the last chapter, so here is some of hinata’s dysfunctional family :-) 
> 
> disclaimer: i have never had a real job, much less been a barista. so i have literally nothing to base hinata’s work on. apologies to any and all baristas reading this.

_ Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.  _

_ Don’t you dare cry.  _

This was Hinata’s mantra as he half walked, half ran back to his apartment. 

He could feel the tears welling in his eyes, but he refused to give in. 

_ Everytime see him, it gets worse and worse.  _

_ He seems pretty annoying.  _

_ Annoying hair, annoying personality.  _

God. Hinata had a vague idea of what Kageyama thought about him, based on their previous interactions. But annoying enough to tell stories about? Stories, plural? Hinata felt his gut sink as he imagined Kageyama telling jokes about the annoying kid who he kept running into. 

But that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was his kind, tall, attractive third year boyfriend. 

Hinata wasn’t stupid. He’d seen the casual way his hand was resting on Kageyama’s arm. The fact that he called him Tobio. The bickering over desert, the way couples do. 

Hinata felt bile rising in his throat. He quickened his pace. 

When he finally got home, the apartment was empty. Kenma was spending the night at Kuroo’s place, so Hinata had the whole space to himself. 

He didn’t want to be by himself. 

What he  _ wanted  _ was a tall, dark haired boyfriend that he could bicker about ice cream with, and snuggle with as they watched a movie. 

But he didn’t even have ice cream. He’d been too much of a coward to get any closer to Kageyama’s relationship. It was like the two of them were standing in a little domestic bubble that Hinata would pop by standing too close. 

He flopped onto his bed face first, not even bothering to turn on the light. He laid like that for what could have been ten seconds, or an hour. 

Eventually, he turned over to stare at the ceiling, imagining patterns in the paint that weren’t there. 

Hinata had never been in a relationship before. He’d never even had a crush. He’d always just been too focused on this or that, that he’d never had any time for anyone else. And, quite honestly, no one could keep up. He ran too fast, or he spoke too quickly, or he changed topics before someone was done talking. 

He thought of Kageyama and Oikawa. How comfortable they looked around each other. How natural his hand looked on Kageyama’s arm. Oikawa must’ve been at the volleyball game to support him, Hinata realized. 

He added ‘supportive’ to the mental list of reasons Oikawa was probably a better boyfriend than Hinata. 

The list was fairly long. Some examples included: 

1\. He is very attractive.

2\. He is tall

3\. He’s a third year, which immediately makes him leagues cooler than Hinata.

4\. He has probably never left Kageyama to clean spilled coffee by himself while he has a panic attack in the bathroom. 

And that’s just a couple reasons. 

Who would choose Hinata over someone like Oikawa? 

Hinata was short and hyperactive. He talks too fast and he always sits on the counters instead of chairs. He’s too competitive. He plays loud music early in the mornings. 

With a massive sigh, Hinata rolled onto his side, facing his mess of a room. This new position, however, caused his phone to dig painfully into his ribs, so after a few awkward adjustments, his phone was in his hands and his ribs were spared. 

Mindlessly, he scrolled through the various apps on his phone. His fingers had a mind of their own as he read articles, played games, and scrolled through his various feeds. Nothing stayed in his head though. He couldn’t tell you a single thing he’d seen if you asked him. 

It was only when he realized he’d been staring at Instagram’s search bar for the last two minutes that his mind caught up with him. 

Before he could talk himself out of it, he was typing Kageyama’s name into the search bar. 

The first Kageyama Tobio was a dud, some old guy from up north. 

The second was private, but the profile picture of a scantily dressed woman made Hinata pray that it wasn’t  _ his  _ Kageyama. 

_ Don’t think like that. He’s not yours. If anyone, he’s Oikawa’s.  _

Hinata felt every muscle in his body tense up as he clicked into the third profile. 

There he was standing in the profile picture, holding out a volleyball in one hand, looking serious. And attractive. 

**Kageyama Tobio**

**Setter**

**Number 7**

**University of Tokyo**

**“Fly.”**

Something about the simple quote sent chills down Hinata’s spine. He shivered and clicked on the most recent post. Kageyama and the rest of the team were standing in a line, most of them grinning, with the exception of Kageyama and a few others. 

He scrolled down. The next post was a picture of the campus on a particularly snowy day. The photo was actually pretty damn good, not just some shitty picture someone took with their phone. It looked like it was taken on an actual camera. The shot captured the snow falling in midair, looking like a suspended moment in time. It was beautiful. 

The third photo made Hinata freeze. There was Kageyama, standing on the threshold of what was probably his apartment. Standing next to him, looking unfairly attractive, was Oikawa, with his arm slung around Kageyama’s shoulders. He was holding up a peace sign with his free hand and winking at the camera. 

The post was dated a few days before the school year began. The caption read, ‘Moving in with Oikawa. If I have not been heard from in three days time, I’m probably dead.’ Hinata snorted, the sound uncomfortably loud in the dead silence of his quickly darkening bedroom. 

There were three comments on the post.

**grand.king.oikawa:** _ don’t say things like that tobio-chan! look at how cute we look! we’re so cute! _

**iwaizumi.hajime:** _ You are both so gay, I am going to vomit.  _

_ reply:  _ **grand.king.oikawa:** _ don't be mean iwa-chan :( _

Hinata stared in confusion at the second comment, unsure of the context. Of course they were gay, they were two men in a serious relationship. Maybe it was an inside joke. 

Fully hating himself for it, Hinata clicked on Oikawa’s profile. 

**Oikawa Tooru**

**Former volleyball player**

**Current all around best person**

**2/18/2012 ❤️**

Hinata’s heart sank. Chances are, that date was when him and Kageyama had gotten together. Why else would there be a heart after it? They’d been together for  _ two years.  _

Hinata clicked off of his profile almost immediately and threw his phone to the foot of the bed, neglecting to charge it in favor of a fitful sleep, chock full of tears. 

Maybe, if Hinata has scrolled through Oikawa’s profile as he had with Kageyama’s, he would have seen the anniversary post dedicated to one Iwa-chan. Or maybe the birthday post for Kageyama, the “little brother I never had”.

But the universe wasn’t done with him quite yet. So Hinata fell asleep to thoughts of dark blue eyes and what it might feel like to rest a hand on someone’s muscular arm. 

—————

Hinata opened the door to Karasuno Coffee House, relishing in the fact that, for once, the heaters were on. This only meant that someone was here before Hinata, which was a rare occurrence . 

“Hello?” He called into the shop as he flipped on the last of the light switches. 

A man with silvery-grey hair popped his head out from the back room. 

“Hinata! I’m so glad you’re here! Can you come help me really quick?” Suga smiled politely. 

Hinata was quick to agree. He  _ adored _ Suga. The co-owner of Karasuno Coffee House was kind and gentle and patient to a fault. He was just the sort of person Hinata wanted to see after such a rough night. He’d barely slept at all. 

Suga played some music from his phone as they unloaded a new shipment of supplies and ingredients from four massive boxes standing in the back room. They worked quickly and efficiently, so by the time they finished, they still had an hour until they opened the coffee shop. At this point Asahi and Yamaguchi, two fellow baristas arrived with a telltale jingle of bells at the door. 

“Hi, Suga-san!” Yamaguchi exclaimed. Everyone was excited to see Suga. Daichi came by more often, but Suga’s visits were more fun. 

“Hello, Yamaguchi! And Asahi! It’s been forever!” Suga replied, hugging them both tightly. Suga’s hugs were renowned. They felt like you were being smothered in the world's warmest and softest blanket. 

“Hinata and I unloaded the supplies, so everything is pretty much ready to go. I mean, I don’t have anywhere to be, and I never see you all. Let’s sit down and have a cup of coffee!” Suga said cheerfully. 

Hinata jumped up and over to the coffee machine, muscle memory taking over as he made his borderline sinful concoction of almost every sweet syrup and additive the cafe had to offer with a side of coffee.

As the four of them sat down, Hinata noticed Yamaguchi staring at him. 

“Hinata,” Yamaguchi started. “Have you done something to your hair? It looks different.”

Hinata immediately flushed. 

“Oh. I, uh… it’s no big deal, it’s just someone told me- well they didn’t  _ tell me _ , I overheard them saying it. But they thought my hair was… Well, what they said doesn’t matter. So I tried to straighten it this morning. It didn’t work. I know it doesn’t look good.” He made an ‘as you can tell’ gesture to the limp, sad looking hair on his head. He had hoped no one would notice. He should have known it would be obvious. 

“Did you use a straightener?” Suga asked. Hinata nodded. “Well, I’ll be honest, Hinata. I think I preferred it before. I‘ve always loved your hair. It’s so… full of life!”

Asahi and Yamaguchi vigorously nodded their agreement. 

“Not that it looks bad, Hinata! You always look great. But it just doesn’t feel like you. Your hair has always matched who you are. This feels a bit like a toned down version of Hinata Shouyou.”

The statement was supposed to make Hinata feel better, but it just made him feel worse. 

_ Annoying hair for an annoying personality.  _

“Here, come with me.” Suga grabbed Hinata by the wrist and pulled him into the bathroom. “One time, in highschool, I thought I could impress my crush by curling my hair with my sister's curling iron. It was  _ awful.”  _ He laughed to himself. “The minute my sister saw me with that rat’s nest on my head, she pulled me into the bathroom and helped me out. I’m gonna put some water on your hair, okay? Then when it dries, it should be back to normal.” 

Hinata hummed his agreement. He’d always loved it when people played with his hair. He closed his eyes as Suga ran his hands through his now damp locks, opening them when Suga patted his wet head and began to towel off his hands with a napkin. 

“Hold on, I’ve got a gym shirt in my bag you can dry your hair with.” He disappeared into the employees break area where everyone kept their bags. Hinata stared at himself in the mirror, his wet hair weighing itself down and framing his face. He really did look like a different person without his untamable mass of hair. 

But maybe  _ this  _ Hinata Shouyou was who he really was. 

Suga returned quickly and Hinata got most of the water out, his hair already gaining volume as it dried. By the time he had his apron on and his nametag secured, his hair was back to its usual bounce. 

The morning rush came and went without much fanfare. Nothing major happened. Hinata only messed up two orders, and only one of those two got angry with him. Which is much better than usual. 

He was at the cash register when the line let up. Usually, these customer droughts could last a minute or until lunch break. He turned to Yamaguchi who was leaning against the counter and they began to chat about a video game that Yamaguchi and Kenma both loved. 

Hinata didn’t really understand how it worked. He preferred games like Mario Kart, or Tekken, where you competed against each other (big surprise). So he tried to listen as Yamaguchi ranted about some incredibly frustrating side quest he’d been sent on that required far more of whatever the in game currency was than Yamaguchi had. 

Hinata was in the midst of trying to convince him  _ not  _ to spend any real money on the game when the door to the cafe jingled it’s obligatory welcome. 

“Hello, welcome to Karasuno Coffee House, what can I-“ Hinata paused, looking at the customer for the first time. 

“Hinata Shouyou?”

_ At least it's not Kageyama,  _ Hinata thought to himself. But somehow, this was worse. 

“Oikawa-san, hello. What can I get you?” Hinata knew he wasn’t his usual chipper self, but he just couldn’t bring himself to grin at the boyfriend of Kageyama Tobio. 

“Oh, just a black coffee, please.” Oikawa said, smiling softly. 

_ He looks like a literal angel. How am I supposed to compete with that? _

_You can’t._

“Coming right up.” Hinata forced himself to smile. It probably looked more like a grimace. 

He barely noticed what his hands were doing as he made the drink. All he could think about was the fact that Kageyama and Oikawa had the same order. 

For someone who worked in a coffee shop, Hinata sure hated black coffee. It was just so bitter and not at all enjoyable to consume. 

“Oikawa-san, I have your drink,” Hinata called from the pick-up counter. Oikawa looked up from his phone and grabbed the cup from Hinata’s outstretched hand. 

“Thank you,” he smiled, taking a sip and sighing. Hinata watched as he took a seat at a table near the window and slowly sipped his coffee. 

Hinata took a swig of his sugary drink. It was funny how something as simple as coffee managed to highlight the differences between them. 

Kageyama and Oikawa drank black coffee. They were cool, sophisticated. They were similar. They liked the same things. 

Here, Hinata was the odd man out. His brew of everything sweet would probably make both of them vomit. Just another thing about him for Kageyama to find annoying. Hinata sighed, long and hard. He watched as Oikawa fluctuated between checking his phone and staring out the window. 

He never looked at Hinata, despite the fact that Hinata stared at him. That shouldn’t be a surprise. Hinata was probably nothing more than an annoyance to laugh about to them. 

He felt like a fly, buzzing around their heads, their hands swatting at him as they tried to make him go away, laughing when he bumped into the walls. 

Oikawa picked up his phone almost immediately after setting it down again. He tapped something, then brought it to his ear. Hinata was just close enough to hear what he was saying. 

“Tobio-chan! No, I’m not on my way home. I’m at the coffee shop. The one near the university.” A pause. “No, I’m studying. Really, I am! …Fine, fine. I’ll be home in ten. See you soon. Kisses!” 

The domesticity in the phone call hit Hinata like a punch to the gut. The casual banter, the use of the word ‘ _ home’. Their  _ home. Where they lived. Together. 

_ Kisses! _

It was such a simple way to end a phone call, but it held so much more than a casual goodbye. Hinata tried and failed to push all thoughts of Kageyama and Oikawa out of his brain, which resulted in something of a constipated look. 

“You were staring at that guy a lot Hinata. Does someone have a crush?” Yamaguchi teased. Hinata forced himself to laugh. 

_ Yeah, I do. And it’s the worst.  _

“Hey, Hinata?” He started, turning to see Suga looking at him. “I’m about to finish this paperwork. Let’s go get some lunch together, and maybe you can tell me what’s on your mind.” 

Hinata nodded. Sure, he loved Kenma. Kenma was an amazing friend and they would always be connected somehow. But Kenma wasn’t very good at listening. Or sympathizing. Two things at which Suga excelled. 

After Yachi came by to take over his shift, he and Suga began the walk to the sushi place down the block. Once they had settled in, Suga looked at him with a meaningful gaze. 

That was all it took for Hinata to spill his guts. He told him everything, from their first meeting to the grocery store last night. He talked about his sleepless night and about how perfect Oikawa was. He didn’t mention how utterly defeated and inadequate he felt. Maybe Suga could tell, but it was something Hinata couldn’t quite bring himself to admit out loud. 

Suga stayed silent the whole time, nodding. After Hinata finished, he didn’t speak, he just reached out and covered Hinata’s small hands with his larger ones. 

“Hinata, I’m gonna be completely honest with you right now. What you’re going through right now sucks. It really, really sucks. And I am angry and upset that you have to deal with it. But you have to remember that we’re all here for you. Everyone at Karasuno is here, and I know for a fact that you have a roommate who cares about you very much. You don’t have to deal with this alone. I just need you to make one promise for me.” 

Hinata looked up at him. 

“Sure, Suga-san. What is it?”

“I know you tried to straighten your hair this morning because this Kageyama guy doesn’t like it. Am I right?” 

Hinata nodded glumly.

“But I want you to promise me that you won’t change yourself for him. He doesn't deserve you, Hinata. And I won’t let yourself change who you are for someone who doesn’t appreciate you. Okay? Can you promise me that?”

Hinata looked at the table, studying the whorls and patterns in the grain. He didn’t realize that tears had been welling in his eyes until they began to fall onto the table. He nodded, not trusting his voice to respond.

Suga squeezed his hand in support. It was a comforting gesture. 

Hinata would get over Kageyama Tobio. He would stop thinking about him and his model third year boyfriend. And their ‘home’. And their kisses. And their-

Maybe this would be harder than he thought. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when will our poor little overthinker understand that oikawa is just like that?? not anytime soon, that’s for sure (because i enjoy your pain)
> 
> there’s a date (like a day of the year, not a romantic outing) and i based it off of when the show takes place. so yes, i’m writing this in 2020, but they were in high school in like 2012/2013
> 
> so for reference, the date mentioned in this fic (2/18/2012) is around the end of oikawa’s second year. i think. i hope.
> 
> thank you for the kudos and all the kind comments on the last chapter! i actually almost cried. it may not seem like much but your words really mean the world to me. thank you all for reading! i’m glad some of you are enjoying it :-)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kageyama & co enjoy a lovely morning. maybe they’ll take a trip to the local coffee shop!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i PROMISE i’m gonna have kageyama and hinata actually interact soon. like, not now, but soon. 
> 
> sorry this chapter is late and also kinda short! i had to move my sister into college :-)
> 
> i feel like the last couple chapters have been kinda boring, so i’m sorry, but it’s gonna get better soon.

Kageyama woke groggily from a dream he didn’t quite remember. Something… orange? He wasn’t sure. He sat up and stretched, letting out a noise of satisfaction. 

He padded out into the kitchen to find Oikawa scrambling some eggs for a tired looking Iwaizumi. 

“Good morning, Tobio-chan!” Oikawa said, always a morning person. 

Kageyama mumbled something that sounded like ‘gmornin’ before taking the seat next to Iwaizumi. 

Neither of them were morning people. Not like Oikawa was. Oikawa was all sunshine and rainbows in the morning, even if he’d gone to bed as late as Kageyama. 

“Would you like some eggs?” Oikawa asked, pulling some plates out from the cupboard. 

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” Kageyama flipped on the kettle, needing caffeine before he interacted any further with someone as energetic as Oikawa. 

As he sat back down with his cup of bitter coffee, Oikawa turned to him. He gestured with his wooden spoon as we spoke. 

“Tobio-chan, you never told me that the shorty works at the coffee place down the road!”

Kageyama stared, wide eyed. What had Oikawa  _ done?  _ He’d interacted with Hinata alone. There were infinite possibilities of what could have happened. Oikawa was never fantastic at picking up social cues. He might have said something horribly embarrassing about Kageyama without thinking. 

“Oh, don’t look at me like that! We barely talked.” Kageyama sighed in relief, which earned him a whack on the shoulder with Oikawa’s kitchen towel. 

“You know, he’s kinda cute. Of course, I go for more of the angry guy, but I see why you like him.” Oikawa glanced at Iwaizumi and winked, before Iwaizumi was jumping out of his chair and tickling Oikawa’s sides, both of them laughing and snorting. 

Kageyama watched them with a sort of longing that he’d never felt before. Suddenly, he was imagining what it would be like if he was tickling Hinata, them giggling and laughing together like Oikawa and Iwaizumi. 

He’d never felt like this before. He’d always felt a sort of indifferent annoyance at their relationship, it was just something that  _ was _ , not something that Kageyama could have too. The thought of providing for someone else in that way, to be so vulnerable,  was terrifying. 

But picturing it with Hinata, someone he barely knew, seemed easy. Natural, almost. 

Maybe it was because they barely knew each other. Maybe it was because Hinata hated him, so there was no real possibility of them getting together. Maybe it was because Hinata was everything he didn’t know he wanted. 

But he wanted that with Hinata. 

Before Kageyama was finished mentally processing that train of thought, Oikawa was leaning over the back of the couch to talk to him.

“Tobio-chan, why don’t you make a move on shrimpy?”

“Don’t call him that.”

Oikawa pouted. “Well, he kind of is. He’s gotta be like five foot four or something. And I already told you I think he’s a cutie! Being short isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

Oh boy, did Kageyama know that. He’d always liked small things. Something about the way they looked in comparison to him just clicked in his brain. He liked the small spoons over the normal ones, or the small bowl over the big one. 

And Hinata was perfectly sized. Kageyama could just picture how they would fit together like pieces in a puzzle, how his smaller hand would fit perfectly into Kageyama’s. He could practically feel Hinata’s hair tickling his chin as his head pressed against Kageyama’s chest.

“Shittykawa, don't force him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. Don’t be an ass,” Iwaizumi said. Kageyama threw him a grateful glance. “Even if he is being a bit of a coward.”

Oikawa giggled and laid his head on Iwaizumi’s chest. Kageyama looked away. 

“I’m not being a coward.  _ He  _ doesn’t like  _ me.  _ That’s the problem here, not what I’m doing or not doing.” Kageyama huffed out a breath and shoveled some of the eggs into his mouth. 

“Maybe we should go down to that coffee shop. The three of us on an outing!” Oikawa exclaimed.

“No.” 

“Come on, Tobio-chan. It‘ll be fun! The three of us going out for coffee. Just like we used to do before tournaments!” Kageyama sighed. He knew it was impossible to talk Oikawa down from an idea once he was set. No matter what he said, Kageyama was going to that coffee shop. 

He groaned internally. Oikawa would have some stupid, complicated plot that would get them together, some idiotic plan that probably involved a live tiger and backup dancers. 

It didn’t matter. Whatever Oikawa tried, it wouldn’t change the fact that Hinata hated him. 

Kageyama thought back to their encounter at the grocery store. The thing Kageyama couldn’t figure out was why Hinata looked so  _ sad.  _ Kageyama remembered him saying something about his favorite ice cream flavor being out, but that couldn’t make someone  _ cry,  _ could it?

Kageyama had an uncomfortable relationship with crying. No one in his family cried. The only time he’d ever seen his mother cry was when his grandmother died, and even then, he’d just heard it through the thin wall between their bedrooms. 

Kageyama didn’t like to cry. It made him too vulnerable, too exposed. His father had told him often that crying makes you less of a man. It wasn’t until he’d seen Oikawa cry over a video of a soldier reuniting with his dog that he realized how flawed that logic had been. 

But the damage had been done. Everytime Kageyama cried, he felt a sort of deep guilt, like he was disappointing someone. 

He was pulled from his reverie by Oikawa grabbing his elbow and pulling him up. 

“Come on! Up, up, up! True love awaits!”

Kageyama grumbled as he slipped on his shoes. He wasn’t even saying anything specific, he was just making quiet noises of anger. 

Oikawa locked the door behind them and off they went. 

“Iwa-chan, do your remember Kindacihi? He went to school with us, he was Tobio-chan’s age.” Oikawa looked up at his boyfriend. 

“Was he the one with the hair that looked like an onion? Yeah I do. But not well.”

“Tobio-chan and I ran into him the other day! When we were out getting ramen!” Oikawa gesticulated with his hands as he spoke. 

“I seem to remember him being kind of an asshole,” Iwaizumi said, glancing at Kageyama who was glowering at the ground like it had insulted him. 

“He still is,” Kageyama muttered without looking up.

“Sure, he’s a bit of a bother. He just doesn’t know when to stop making a joke, is all,” Oikawa reasoned. 

“He’s not making a joke,” Kageyama said quietly. “I have a feeling he knows exactly what he’s doing.”

Oikawa leaned in front of Iwaizumi to peer at him. “What do you mean, Tobio-chan?”

Kageyama never told anyone how deeply his middle school experiences had cut him. No one knew that he still woke up in a cold sweat from nightmares of faceless people pointing and laughing at him. No one knew why he didn’t like to wear hoodies anymore. No one knew why he wore them in the first place. 

No one knew then, no one would know now. It was easiest that way. 

So all he said back to Oikawa was just, “He knows he annoys me is all. He probably likes doing it.”

“Hmmm. He wasn’t an awful player, though. I remember once during a game in our third year, Iwa-chan…”

The trio chatted the whole way to the coffee shop. Kageyama has some deja vu from when he had made a very similar journey with Bokuto about a week ago. He felt more comfortable with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, so he joined in the conversation more, even though Oikawa spoke enough for all three of them. 

Some people thought Oikawa was hard to be around. They assumed he was all pettiness and effeminate gestures. They thought he was extremely shallow. Kageyama had thought so too, at first. They hadn’t gotten along in middle school. 

When Kageyama was in his first year in middle school, he’d asked Oikawa to teach him how to serve. Before he could understand what was happening, Oikawa’s hand was raised and Kageyama was flinching. But no impact came. Iwaizumi was grabbing Oikawa’s wrist, looking at him with a mixture of disappointment and pity. 

They didn’t talk much after that. 

It was only in high school, when Oikawa overheard Kageyama asking their coach for a copy of their future opponents last game, that he extended an olive branch. That night, instead of spending the night alone in the dark, they sat together, pointing out flaws in their opponents strategy or players they’d need to look out for. Things were much better between them after that. 

Oikawa still stayed up late watching recorded games with Kageyama before every match, making comments and providing insight, even though he didn’t play.

Back in the present, Kageyama watched as Oikawa told a crazy story about someone in one of his classes, gesturing wildly. Then he looked at Iwaizumi. 

The look on Iwaizumi’s face hit Kageyama like a freight train. His eyes never left Oikawa’s face, and his mouth, which was usually on the angry-to-neutral spectrum was smiling softly. 

For the second time in one morning, Kageyama felt like a third wheel. 

It was completely idiotic to be going to the cafe when he felt like this. He’d do something stupid, like try to compliment Hinata’s eyes or something. 

Oikawa pulled the door to the Karasuno Coffee House open, the tiny bells jingling in welcome. 

Immediately, Kageyama scanned the room for any sign of orange. After three full sweeps of the cafe, he began to accept the fact that maybe Hinata wasn’t there that day. 

He felt himself deflate. 

In that moment, feeling so disappointed that he wouldn’t see Hinata, Kageyama realized something. He would rather feel the pain of seeing Hinata hate him than not see Hinata at all. 

_ Fuck.  _

Kageyama had it bad. 

The three of them approached the counter, where a tall man with hair in a bun was manning the register. 

“Hello, welcome to Karasuno Coffee House. What can I get started for you guys today?” The man asked. He looked a bit intimidating, yet he spoke extremely gently, completely at odds with his appearance. 

Iwaizumi ordered a chai, while Kageyama and Oikawa both got black coffee. Oikawa was actually the one to get Kageyama hooked on coffee, after they had stayed up too late one night watching recorded matches. 

“I’ve got a chai for Iwaizumi,” a silver haired man called from the counter. Iwaizumi grabbed the drink and stuck his tongue out when Oikawa bemoaned the fact that he got his drink first. 

“I’ve got two black coffees for… Oikawa and Kageyama?” The silver haired man called out. As Kageyama made his way to the counter, he could feel the man staring at him. As he grabbed his drink, the man spoke. 

“Pardon me, but do you play on the volleyball team, by any chance?” Kageyama looked up in surprise. He’d barely been on the starting line up a few months, so he’d never expected to be recognized. 

“Oh, Tobio-chan, don't be shy!” Oikawa said gleefully. “Yes, he does! He’s the setter.”

The man behind the counter didn’t look impressed. He was just watching the two of them carefully. “I see. I have a friend who loves the team. Enjoy your drinks.”

Kageyama could feel the man’s stare on his back when he turned around. 

_ What a strange interaction,  _ he thought to himself. He didn’t seem interested in the team, rather just Kageyama himself. It was odd. 

“Looks like shrimpy isn’t working today. Shame. Iwa-chan doesn’t remember what he looks like, I wanted to reintroduce him,” Oikawa pouted. 

Kageyama couldn’t imagine forgetting what Hinata looked like. It felt like his face was painted onto the backs of his eyelids. 

The door behind Kageyama flung open suddenly, making him jump. Annoyed, he turned to look and saw a streak of orange running up to the counter. 

“Suga-san! I am so sorry I’m late, I just-“

“Hinata, are you alright?” The silver haired man from earlier- presumably named Suga- asked, tilting his head. 

Hinata brought his hands to his face, but his back was still to Kageyama, so he couldn’t see what what was happening. 

“I- I’m fine. I’m really sorry I’m late. Thank you for covering for me. Can I just… talk to you about it later?” 

“Sure.” Suga patted Hinata’s shoulder. “Take some time in the break room. I’m fine out here. Maybe take a nap? You look like you haven’t slept.”

“I have slept!” Hinata protested. “Just… not much. But I’ll be fine.”

Hinata walked around the counter to the door leading to what Kageyama assumed was the break room. When he turned back to Suga, Kageyama got a good look at his face for the first time. 

His eyes were red and puffy, like he’d been crying aggressively for an extended period of time. There were major bags under them, too, and Kageyama mentally agreed with Suga that a nap would do him good. 

“Suga-san, I can’t make you cover for me,” Hinata protested. 

“Sure you can! Asahi and I have everything covered. I promise we’ll come get you if there’s a sudden rush. But there’s barely anyone here.” 

Hinata looked out across the coffee shop. 

Kageyama felt the exact moment they made eye contact. It was like electricity crackling through his veins, waking him up more than any amount of coffee ever could. 

Hinata’s eyes widened. Kageyama waited for him to glare, or yell something. But they just stared at each other. 

“...Hinata?” Suga asked. Hinata pulled his eyes from Kageyama. He felt the spark leave, feeling a little empty. 

Suga said something Kageyama couldn’t hear, but it made Hinata turn a bright red. He looked back at him, then looked at something next to Kageyama. Whatever it was, it made his gaze harden. With a final glance, he disappeared into the break room. 

“Wow. This is like a tv show!” Kageyama jumped in his seat. In all honesty, he had completely forgotten about his companions. Oikawa had his chin resting on clasped hands. 

“Shut up, Loserkawa. So that’s Hinata?” Kageyama nodded.

“I wonder what was wrong with him?” Oikawa asked. Kageyama shrugged, working extremely hard to make it look noncommittal. On the inside, he was going insane. 

_ Is Hinata okay? _

_ What happened? _

_ Why was he crying?  _

_ Is there anything I can do to make him feel better? _

Kageyama cringed inwardly at that last thought. 

_ No, idiot. You’d just make him feel worse.  _

He put his head in his hands. One thing was certain. Kageyama had felt more in those seconds of eye contact than he’d ever felt for anyone else. 

Kageyama was falling. Hard. 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why is hinata crying? i guess you’ll have to wait and see ;)
> 
> guys i have so many ideas on where i want this to go but i have no clue how to string them all together. trust the process, i guess? we’ll see.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> why is hinata so sad? i’ll tell you why it’s because i enjoy pain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: there is some homophobia in this chapter, it’s not super in detail, but this is just a warning for anyone who needs it <3
> 
> i know i said i’d make kagehina actually interact soon and i swear i will you just gotta hold out man just keep holding on
> 
> hopefully i’ll be back to my regular daily posting schedule now :-)

Hinata sat in the break room with his head in his hands. He played the events of that morning at the night before over and over in his head. 

The sound of his mother’s voice when he picked up the phone played like a broken record in his head. 

_ Shouyou? Oh, Shouyou.  _

_ Thank God you picked up the phone.  _

_ There was an accident.  _

_ Head on collision. _

_ Just missed the artery.  _

_ Broken bones.  _

_ Emergency room.  _

_ Surgery.  _

He shook his head, as if he could physically get the thoughts out through his ears. It didn’t work. The phone call played on repeat in his mind. 

It didn’t help that he was painfully aware of the biggest asshole dickwad to ever exist sitting next to his gorgeous boyfriend in the next room over. 

“Hinata?” He looked up to see Suga standing in the doorway. Hinata glanced at the clock. He’d been sitting like that for ten minutes. 

It had felt like hours. 

“Hinata are you alright? What happened?”

“I-“ Hinata paused. ‘I’m fine’ felt wrong. He wasn’t fine. He wasn’t ‘good’ or ‘okay’, he was scared, and frightened, and anxious. “I’m hanging in there.”

Suga came to sit by him on the ratty old couch they had kept for far too long. 

“What happened?” Suga repeated softly. 

“It’s Natsu. My sister. She was-“ Hinata’s voice cracked, the tears welling in his eyes not falling out of sheer determination and willpower. “She was in an accident. Last night, coming home from a party or something. She wasn't supposed to be out. Some truck hit her. She- She was in surgery pretty much all of last night, so I didn’t sleep much. She’s still asleep now. My mom is gonna call when she wakes up.”

“Hinata Shouyou.” Suga’s voice was firm and almost angry. Hinata looked up in surprise. Sure, he wasn’t asking for a bouquet of roses, but some sympathy would have been nice. “What are you doing here? You should be at home! Or the hospital! Why did you come into work?” Suga exploded. 

Hinata flinched. “It’s my shift, and I’m on trash duty on Friday’s-“

“Hinata, I appreciate your… dedication. But you shouldn’t be here right now. You should be with your family.” 

“My car is at the mechanic, and I can’t afford a train ticket.” Hinata tried desperately to keep the tears in his eyes where they were. He had already cried about not being able to go last night, he wasn’t about to do it again. 

“Stay right here,” Suga said before heading back into the cafe. He came back a few moments later with a confused looking Yachi in tow. 

“Here. Yachi, you said you needed to go back to Miyagi for a day to visit your grandmother? How would you feel about going now?”

Yachi turned to Suga in surprise. “Well, I don’t have any vacation days, but I would like to-“

“Perfect! I’ll talk to Daichi about your vacation days. Can you take Hinata? His sister is in the hospital in Miyagi and I am going to get him there. Or rather, you’re going to get him there, since I have to work.”

Yachi turned to Hinata. “Your sister? Natsu?” Hinata nodded grimly. They had spoken about Natsu a lot on their weekly lunches. Hinata had always said he thought they’d love each other. “Oh, Hinata. I’m so sorry. Of course I’ll take you! I’ll need to pop by my place before we go, do you need to go to yours?”

“Oh. No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay. If we leave now, we should get there at, what. One? Two? That’s assuming we leave  _ now _ . But I still have to work… Hold on, let me call Yamaguchi and see if he can come in.”

Yachi stepped out of the room with her phone to her ear. 

“You should call your roommate. I have a feeling he’s pretty worried about you.”

Hinata sighed and closed his eyes. He had tried to keep it a secret from Kenma, not wanting him to worry. But he’d forgotten the key detail that Kenma was nocturnal. So his loud crying in the middle of the night did not go unheard, and had ended in Hinata sobbing in his best friends lap. 

“Yeah… Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Hinata pulled his phone from his pocket and found Kenma’s contact information. The conversation was short, just Hinata’s explanation and Kenma’s following ‘then why the hell are you talking to me and not driving, idiot?”

Yachi peeked her head into the room.

“Hinata. Are you ready?”

Hinata stood up and cracked his knuckles, mentally preparing himself. “Yeah. I am. Let’s go.”

Yachi walked over to him and put a comforting arm around his waist, squeezing him in a gesture of support. Hinata gave her a sideways hug in return. 

As they walked through the door to the break room, his eyes immediately found Kageyama. But Kageyama wasn’t looking at him. He was staring at Oikawa, who was pointing his finger at nothing as he spoke animatedly. 

Hinata sighed heavily. He had more important things to worry about than Kageyama and his stupid boyfriend. 

Yachi must have noticed Hinata tensing up, so she squeezed his waist again. He looked down at her gratefully. Maybe he would tell her about Kageyama in the car ride. 

Then he remembered how hard Yachi had blushed when she was giving Kageyama his coffee when he spilled it. 

Maybe he wouldn’t tell her. 

As they stepped into the chilly air, Yachi shivered, so Hinata wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on his shoulder as they walked to her car, which was parked down the block. 

Hinata never noticed that someone was watching him from the window of the Karasuno Coffee House. That someone was watching as he rubbed circles on a pretty girl's shoulder. Or laughed at a joke as he got into her car. 

Hinata just didn’t notice. 

——————

“Hinata? Hinata Natsu? Where is her room?” Hinata frantically asked the woman at the reception desk. 

“Are you a family member?”

“Yes, yes, I’m Hinata Shouyou, I’m her older brother.” He pulled out his school ID to confirm his identity. The stern looking woman waved him down the hall. 

He practically raced down the confusing maze of halls. They all looked very similar, just white linoleum floors and fluorescent lights. 

Hinata’s mother had called him an hour ago to tell him that Natsu had woken up, which had calmed him significantly. But the closer he’d gotten to the hospital, the more he worried. 

It was strange to drive through the streets of his hometown. The same corner stores, the same intersections, the same town. 

He was surprised to learn how close he and Yachi had lived. They were a ten minute walk, but he’d never met her as a child. 

Yachi has tried to come into the hospital, but Hinata had ushered her on her way. She had other ailing family members to worry about, Hinata would be fine. 

He ended up walking past Natsu’s door twice before he recognized the number. He opened the door softly, peering inside. 

Something inside of Hinata crumbled when he saw his lively, annoying, feisty sixteen year old sister lying on the hospital bed. Her head was wrapped in gauze and her right arm and leg were in casts. On top of that, she was covered in various cuts and bruises. 

Her face lit up when she saw Hinata. 

“Nii-chan!” She exclaimed. Hinata dropped his bag at his feet and strode to the bed. He grabbed her hand in his, holding tightly. 

“ _ Fuck,  _ Natsu. You can never worry me like that ever again, okay?” Natsu nodded softly. “I was just- you have no idea how much I-“

Hinata’s mother wrapped an arm around her son and squeezed gently. If she had any thoughts about his language, she kept them to herself. 

“Shouyou, don't scold your sister while she’s injured.”

“Mom, you’re just saying that so that you can scold me all by yourself,” Natsu complained. 

“Well, of course I am. I’m your mother. It’s my responsibility to scold you, not Shouyou’s,” she replied.

Natsu giggled. Hinata squeezed her hand even harder before adjusting so that he was sitting at her feet. 

The three of them sat like that for a few hours. It had been a few months since they’d all been together, so they made the most of it, laughing and catching up. The atmosphere was light, despite the circumstances that had brought them together.

Hinata pulled out his phone when he felt it buzz. A call from Yachi, asking if he’s ready to leave. He looked at his mother and sister. He missed them, more than he wanted to admit. He thanked her and hung up. 

“I should probably get going soon…” Hinata began. 

“Natsu should probably sleep anyways. Shouyou, come have a word with me quickly,” his mother said, patting Natsu’s good leg. 

Hinata followed his mother into the hall. When she turned to face him, her face looked pinched and tight with worry. 

“Shouyou… your father is coming to see Natsu. He asked me if he could, and it was before you said you could come-“ 

“Mom. I’m leaving now. It’s fine. Yachi called, she’s on her way now. Besides, I have school and work tomorrow, it’s not like I could stay anyways.”

“Right.” His mother sighed. She looked older than she had when Hinata had seen her last. “I’m sorry, Shouyou, no child should have to avoid their own father. It’s just-“

“Mom, I understand. Don’t worry about me. I’m just glad Natsu’s okay. I’ll see you when I come home again. I love you, Mom.”

“Oh, I love you, too, Shouyou.” She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. Hinata’s were huggers. This was the way of the world. 

The grass is green, the sky is blue, and Hinata’s love to hug. 

“Drive safe, okay?” His mother asked. 

“Of course, Mom. Yachi is, like, the safest driver ever, I promise.”

He said a teary goodbye to Natsu, who made him promise to facetime soon. 

Hinata retraced his steps through the hospital, making a few wrong turns here and there. He finally found the lobby, where Yachi was chatting with the same receptionist. 

“Nevermind, he’s here. Thank you for your help!” Yachi smiled. 

“Of course. Have a nice night, both of you.”

Hinata smiled gratefully at the receptionist, then at Yachi. They walked in silence to the car. 

“Is she alright?”

Hinata looked at Yachi and sighed. “Yeah. She’ll be fine. She won’t be walking for a while, and she broke her dominant arm, so that’ll be a learning curve. But mostly I just think it’s mental stuff that’s gonna be hard to get over.”

“What do you mean?” Yachi asked, looking briefly at Hinata before returning her gaze to the road in front of them. 

“Natsu’s always been a good kid. But I think when I left she got a bit of a rebellious streak. I don’t know the details, just her complaining about being grounded all the time. She wasn’t supposed to be out last night. She had stuck out to some party or other. I think that’s gonna stick in her mind. That if she hadn’t snuck out, she’d be fine right now. And it’s not like my mom will use that against her, she’s not cruel, but I’m sure she’s thinking it too.”

Yachi hummed in agreement. Hinata pulled out his phone to text Kenma. 

**me :** _ on my way home _

**kenma =^.^= :** _ how’s natsu? _

**me :** _ she’s gonna be fine. just a bit shaken up you know _

**kenma =^.^= :** _ i’m glad  _

**kenma =^.^= :** _ we can talk about it when you get home  _

**kenma =^.^= :** _ drive safe  _

Hinata snorted. He knew everyone was telling him to drive safely because Natsu’s accident was fresh in their minds, but one look at Yachi’s grip on the wheel was all Hinata needed to feel at ease. 

**me :** _ i will thank you <3 _

Hinata turned off his phone with a sigh and shoved it back into his bag. He closed his eyes and laid his head back on the headrest. 

Before he realized it, he was falling asleep. 

  
  


_ Hinata was sitting in his bedroom, playing some stupid, mindless game on his phone when he heard a scream come from the backyard. He sprung out of bed and ran to the window on the other side of his room.  _

_ Ten year old Natsu was lying in the dirt at the base of the tree in the yard. She was crying and clutching at her arm.  _

_ Hinata sprinted outside, not bothering to close the sliding door behind him.  _

_ “Natsu! Natsu are you okay?” He yelled.  _

_ She did nothing but keep crying.  _

_ “Natsu? Natsu!” Hinata ran to her side, and put a hand on her leg.  _

_ But she didn’t respond. He squeezed her leg. Nothing. Confused, he brought his hand up to his face, but it was blurry and see through.  _

_ “Natsu?” He asked quietly, knowing she wouldn’t respond.  _

_ “Natsu!” He screamed as loud as he could. But Natsu just kept crying.  _

_ “Nii-chan,” she whispered through her sobs. “Nii-chan, where are you? Why aren’t you here? Why did you leave me?” _

_ Hinata fell to his knees and began to cry with her. Only when her tears trailed off did he look up. But his sister was no longer there.  _

_ He looked around. He wasn’t in his backyard anymore. He was seated at his dinner table.  _

_ He looked at his mother, who looked younger and much less… worried.  _

_ He turned to Natsu sitting next to him. She must have been seven. She was animatedly telling everyone at the table about her day at school.  _

_ He looked instinctively to the head of the table. There sat his father. Hinata hadn’t seen him in years.  _

_ He was a stern, angry looking man. He had a slight mustache and a dramatically receding hairline. He still had on the suit he wore to work.  _

_ Hinata looked down at his plate. Spicy chicken curry. _

_ His stomach curdled. He knew exactly what was about to happen. But he couldn’t stop himself from speaking.  _

_ “Mom, Dad. I have something I need to tell you guys.” _

_ They both looked at him expectantly. Hinata fought to keep the words in his mouth, but they spilled out anyway.  _

_ “I’m gay. I like guys. Not... girls.” _

_ He looked at his mother who was smiling softly. She reached for his hand, but stopped abruptly when his father started to laugh.  _

_ Hinata looked at his father.  _

_ “Shouyou, don't make jokes like that.” _

_ “Dad, I’m not joking,” Hinata said, astounded.  _

_ Hinata’s father stopped laughing. He turned to face Hinata with a terrifying look in his eyes.  _

_ “You damn well better be, son. No child of mine is going to be a fucking-“ _

_ “Hisahito. Don’t say another word. Shouyou, take Natsu to your room. Please don’t come out until I come get you.” His mother looked at Hinata with pleading eyes.  _

_ His father interrupted. “I will speak to my son any way I damn well please!” _

_ Hinata flinched. He grabbed Natsu’s hand and pulled her up the stairs.  _

_ “Hinata,” someone said. He glanced around, confused. Everyone in his family called him Shouyou.  _

_ “Hinata. Hinata, wake up, we’re here.” _

Hinata awoke abruptly. He glanced over groggily at Yachi. 

“Was I asleep the whole drive? Damn, sorry, Yachi. I didn’t sleep much last night.”

“It’s fine,” Yachi said kindly. “I’m just glad you slept. Sweet dreams?”

Hinata tensed, thinking of that fateful dinner. “Yeah,” he lied. 

Yachi smiled again. “This is your apartment building, right?”

“Yeah.” Hinata got out of the car, grabbing his bag. “Thank you, Yachi. Really. You didn’t have to take me all the way to Miyagi, but you did. Thank you.” 

“Of course. See you later, Hinata.” He watched as her car pulled out of the parking lot before trudging up the stairs to his apartment. 

—————

About a week later, it was Friday night and Hinata was sitting in his bedroom. His computer was sat in his lap and he had a large bag of sour candies next to him. He grinned as his facetime call connected. 

“Nii-chan!” Natsu’s jovial face filled his screen. 

“Natsu! How have you been holding up?”

Natsu sighed. “It’s been fine. It’s kinda hard to do stuff without my right hand, though.”

Hinata rested his chin on his fist. “I bet.”

“It’s kind of like when I broke my arm when I was younger, remember? Except that was my left, so this is much suckier.”

They chatted for a few minutes, Natsu gushing about the new song her favorite singer had just released, when Hinata’s phone pinged. 

**daichi:**

**to: Karasuno Groupchat**

_ Hello everyone! My friend Bokuto has just invited us out for drinks at his friend’s bar tonight. Please text back if you’re interested.  _

**asahi:** _ Sure! _

**yachi:** _ i’m in _

**yamaguchi:** _ can i bring tsukishima? _

**suga:** _ yes.  _

**yamaguchi:** _ yay! okay :) _

Hinata looked back at Natsu, who had stopped speaking. 

“What’s up, Nii-chan?”

“Oh, nothing. Bokuto-san just invited the guys at the cafe out for drinks tonight.”

“Bokuto-san? Is he the guy from the volleyball team? The really loud one?”

Hinata laughed. “Yeah, that’s him.”

“Nii-chan, you have to go!” Natsu looked genuinely pained. 

“What are you talking about? We’re facetiming right now! I can’t just ditch you!” Hinata responded. 

“Shouyou, you’re fresh into your twenties and you’re sitting in your room on a Friday night, eating sour candy and facetiming your little sister. I can’t let you destroy your reputation like this. You have to go.”

“Natsu, I don’t have a reputation to destroy. I’m not exactly the big man on campus,” Hinata argued. 

“I don’t care! I won’t let you waste away! I cannot be responsible for that. I refuse to let you be an old maid with seven cats when you grow up. I’ll be changing your old man diapers while you lament about your lack of fun in college.”

“Natsu, you are like four years younger than me. You’ll be too old to change my diapers,” Hinata laughed. 

“Doesn’t matter! My point still stands. You have to go. We can talk tomorrow.” Natsu furrowed her eyebrows. She had enough determination in her expression to level a city. 

“Natsu, don't just-“ Hinata stopped talking when Natsu hung up. She really wasn’t going to let him off the hook. 

**daichi :** _ Hinata, are you coming? _

Hinata sighed. He didn’t really have a choice here. 

**me :** _ yeah! _

Hinata looked down at his sweatpants. He should probably change. He pawed through the clothes in his closet, settling on a light button up and black skinny jeans. 

He left a few buttons undone and grabbed his jacket. 

“Kenma, I’m going out for a bit. Please don’t let me walk in on you and Kuroo when I get home, I might gouge my eyes out,” Hinata called out. 

“Fuck off, Shouyou!” Was the goodbye he received. 

He closed the door behind him and began the walk to the bar. It was surprisingly close to his apartment, so he hadn’t asked anyone for a ride.

This would be a good night. Full of distractions. 

As he neared the bar, he saw a head of familiar silver hair. 

“Suga-san!”

Suga turned around, smiling. He was in line with Daichi and Asahi. Hinata joined them. 

When his phone buzzed, he brought it out to check it. 

**natsu :** _ are you going out? you’re not just staying in bed are you _

**me :** _ i promise i am going out rn  _

**natsu :** _ send a picture or i won’t believe you _

Hinata took a picture of him sticking out his tongue out with Suga putting bunny ears behind his wild hair. 

**natsu :** _ good enough.  _

**natsu :** _ have fun! _

Hinata grinned and pocketed his phone. 

He would have fun. 

This night was going to be great. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i’m not sure what the canon age gap between natsu and hinata is, but in this fic it’s about four years, so she is sixteen and hinata is twenty 
> 
> also i have VERY specific thoughts about exactly how all the characters text so i want to try and get them all to text in this fic at some point
> 
> thank you all for the kudos! i hope each and every one of you has a wonderful day :-)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a night at the bar :-)
> 
> what could go wrong? or right ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MF BUCKLE UP AND STRAP IN FOLKS. i had so much fun writing this chapter it is a ROLLERCOASTER.
> 
> the pov switches at the chapter break thingy that looks like this ————— it should be pretty obvious. i wrote this from hinata’s pov and then kageyama’s pov but neither of them felt right like they were both missing too many important details so i just smushed them together 
> 
> i got carried away writing this and it’s like 1k words over what i usually put in a chapter but i literally cannot bring myself to cut it down so here you go. enjoy the meal :-)
> 
> heads up! everyone in this story is over 20, which is the drinking age in japan. this is all legal. (i’m sorry if that messes up the timeline! i don’t think i does, but tbh the continuity in this story has gone to shit. oh well!)

Kageyama was fully prepared to spend his Friday night alone in his bedroom, watching American crime procedurals and eating instant noodles. 

In fact, he was excited to do so. 

Kageyama was big on routine. Go to morning practice at the same time every day. Go on the same running route every time he ran. Watch terribly gory crime tv on Friday nights. 

Routine was knowable. Routine was safe. 

But some people don’t feel the same. They think it’s a ‘waste’ to spend Friday nights at home, not partying and drinking their weight in shitty, overpriced alcohol. 

Kageyama did not share those ideals. He felt that a perfect night was spent doing exactly what he planned to do. 

Routine. 

So he wasn’t too pleased when his phone buzzed with this message. 

**Bokuto :**

**To: volleyball G.O.A.T.s**

_Who is up for DRINKS tonite???? My pal runs a bar near uni and has invited the team!!!!!_

**Nishinoya :** _YESSSS!!!! drinks drinks drinks_

 **Tanaka :** _count me IN_

 **Ushiwaka :** _I would like to join._

 **Tendo :** _if ushi is coming, i’ll go too_

 **Ushiwaka :** _That is very kind of you, Tendo._

 **Tendo :** _😀_

 **Aone :** _Sure._

  
  


Kageyama suppressed a sigh. A night out with his rowdy teammates what _not_ what he was aching to do. 

They would want to talk, and laugh, and just… be boisterous. Kageyama was not a boisterous person. 

  
  


**Nishinoya :** _kageyama kageyama kageyama_

**Nishinoya :** _kageyama_

 **Me :** _I don’t want to_

 **Tanaka :** _come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn_

 **Me :** _I’m busy right now_

 **Bokuto :** _Doing what???_

 **Me :** _..._

 **Me :** _Fine. But I get to leave early if I want to._

 **Nishinoya :** _YAY!!!!_

Kageyama sighed and dropped his head onto his pillow. He knew that any explanation of what he wanted to do with his free time would fall onto deaf ears. His teammates fell into the category of wanting to get drunk on Fridays. 

Kageyama missed the days when he was underage and could use that as an excuse to not go out. 

He rolled out of bed and walked into the living room, where he was greeted by Oikawa and Iwaizumi sitting on the couch, arguing heatedly. 

“That’s so fucking stupid, Shittykawa! Kathy _cared_ about the other women! There is no way in hell that she deserved to be kicked off,” Iwaizumi said, almost shouting. 

“What are you talking about?! I don’t think we’re talking about the same Kathy here. _Kathy_ is a bitch. _Joanna_ is nice to everyone. That’s why _she’s still here!_ ” Oikawa nearly smacked a passing Kageyama with his gesturing hand. 

Kageyama tried to tune them out as he made his instant noodles. Somehow, Oikawa had gotten Iwaizumi unbelievably invested in some reality tv show about extremely argumentative, dramatic, middle-aged women. They’d been watching it together since they’d graduated. 

He tried to tune out their argument, which was increasing in volume. He took his noodles back to his room to eat in some semblance of peace. 

After receiving the address from Bokuto, Kageyama tentatively walked back into the living room, afraid he was interrupting again, but the fight seemed to be over, both of them resolved to just watching the next episode. 

“Are you going out, Tobio-chan?” Oikawa asked, craning his head over the couch. 

“Yeah, the team’s getting drinks,” he said flatly. He knew what came next. 

And Oikawa did not disappoint. He looked at Kageyama with the biggest puppy dog eyes known to man, sticking his bottom lip out and tilting his head. 

“Fine! Fine. I’ll text them,” Kageyama said, throwing his hands up. 

**Me :** _My roommate and his boyfriend want to come._

 **Bokuto :** _The more the merrier!_

  
  


Kageyama considered lying and telling Oikawa that they had said no. But he would be figured out immediately. Kageyama was a shitty liar. 

“Alright, both of you get a move on. We need to leave,” Kageyama said. 

“Yay!” Oikawa clapped his hands together. “Let’s go, Iwa-chan!”

Five minutes later, they were all piled into Oikawa’s blue car, Iwaizumi volunteering to be that night’s designated driver. He made Oikawa promise to drive next time, but everyone knew that he wouldn’t. 

As they pulled into a side street by the bar, Kageyama felt a sense of foreboding deep in his gut. 

Something was going to happen tonight. 

He was sure of it. 

—————

“Suga-san, when will we get to go inside?” Hinata asked impatiently, bouncing on his toes. 

“I dunno. But stop bouncing! You’re making me crazy!” Suga punctuated his words with a karate chop to the top of Hinata’s head, making him yelp. 

“Suga, stop abusing the employees,” Daichi said, but he was smiling. 

“Next up,” the bouncer ahead of them called. He was a tall, surly looking man. “Are you on the list?”

Daichi glanced around. No one had known there was a list, and their group was very much not on it. 

“Well, I-“ Daichi began but he was cut off. 

“Hey, hey, hey! My favorite gang of baristas!” Bokuto strolled out of the with a tired looking Akaashi. 

“Uwaaah! Bokuto-san!” 

“Little man!” Bokuto cheered, pumping his fist in the air. “Don’t worry about them, Washio, my man. They’re with me!” 

The bouncer let them pass with a grumbled word that sounded like… owls? Hinata just ignored him in favor of craning his neck to look around the bar. 

“Wow, Bokuto-san! This place is the coolest!” Hinata yelled, standing on his toes in an attempt to see over the sea of people. 

“Here, little man, let’s get you a drink!” The gang made their way to the bar, where Hinata just stared at the bartender. “Hey, Lev! Guys, this is my pal Lev, he runs this joint. Lev, this is the guys from the Karasuno Coffee House!” 

“Matcha latte!” Hinata blurted out without thinking, then quickly covered his mouth. 

“Excuse me?” Asked a confused looking Lev. 

“Do you have coffee on the brain? Little man, this is a bar. You can’t order that here.”

“No, _I_ don’t want one, it’s you! You order a matcha latte!” Hinata looked back at Lev, who looked a little freaked out. “No, no, I promise I’m not creepy, but whenever someone tall comes in, I remember what they order. And you’re _super_ tall, so I remember you especially.”

“Why?” Was all Lev said. 

“Well, it started as an experiment. I thought, maybe if all the tall people are drinking the same thing, I can drink it too and it’ll make me taller! But that was stupid and it didn’t work. Now it’s just a force of habit.” 

“I guess I understand that. Kind of. Well, Bokuto, you sure hang around fun people.”

Bokuto laughed. “Don’t I know it!” Lev chuckled and handed them each a laminated menu. Hinata stared at his until his eyes started to sting. 

“Bokuto-san, I don’t know what to get,” Hinata complained. 

Bokuto raised an eyebrow. “I think you should ask Suga. He’ll have some good advice for you.”

Hinata turned to his left. “Suga-san? What drink should I order?”

Suga’s face lit up like a christmas tree. Hinata tried to follow along as he explained all the different types of drinks and what they tasted like. He gave up after the Suga said ‘fruity undertones’ for the third time. 

“Suga-san? Can you just pick something for me?”

“Of course!” Suga grinned and signaled Lev. The order turned into a whole conversation about aging whiskey and something about ‘notes’ in wine. Hinata stopped paying attention when he got his drink. 

It was bright orange and tasted faintly of soda, with a sugary kick. It was delicious. Hinata thanked Suga and Lev gratuitously. 

“Oh, shit! Lev? You’re the guy who runs this place?”

Hinata swiveled in his seat to see Nishinoya and Tanaka from the volleyball team. 

“Hinata?” Tanaka asked, shocked. 

“Tanaka-san? Nishinoya-san?” Hinata replied, equally bewildered. 

“No way! Did Bokuto invite you too?” Noya asked, looking around for the man in question. 

“Damn right I did!” Bokuto shouted, walking up to them. “I figured, what better way to get this party started than to bring the team? But then I thought about the little man and I _had_ to bring him! And the rest of Karasuno are pretty awesome too. But who is that Tsuki- Tsukisham- The tall blonde guy? He totally ignored me!” 

Hinata laughed. “Tsukishima? Yamaguchi brought him. He’s kind of a douche, but he’s alright when you get to know him. Well, actually, no he’s not. But he’s nice to Yamaguchi, at least.”

Bokuto looked sullen. Noya laughed and clapped him on the back. 

“Alright, we’re gonna take these drinks back to the table. We’re trying to get the great Ushiwaka drunk!” Noya yelled celebratorily. His shouting turned more than a few heads. He leaned down to whisper conspiratorially to Hinata. “Tendo swears that he’s heard him sing Superbass. Like, the whole thing. We need to see that.”

“Come on, come on, come with us!” Tanaka grabbed Hinata’s wrist and pulled him along. With a wave at Suga, they were weaving through the crush of bodies, narrowly missing quite a few collisions. 

“Guys! Look who we found!” 

There was a chorus of excited ‘heys’ and ‘hi’s from the table. But Hinata was frozen to the ground, staring at a certain dark haired, blue eyed setter. Kageyama stared back at Hinata like the floor had fallen out from under him. 

Hinata didn’t want Kageyama to ruin his night by making some mean comment about his hair or his annoying nature. So he took a seat as far away as possible. 

Throughout the next while, he laughed and chatted with the team. They talked about everything and nothing, Hinata ranting about the way they played and the team promising to come visit the cafe sometime. 

Throughout the whole conversation, he felt Kageyama’s eyes pressing into him, never straying. 

_He’s probably thinking about all the different things about me that piss him off._ Hinata shot him a quick glare. _This is humiliating. It’s like I’m a stupid tv show to make fun of. I can’t do this anymore._

“Guys, I’m gonna go see what my coworkers are up to. Suga can get a little wild sometimes, so I should go check on him. Thank you for talking with me!” Hinata pushed back his chair and stood up. He waved away the scattered protests and pushed his way back through the crowd to a small table in the corner where his friends sat. 

But it wasn’t just his friends at the table. There was also a tall, attractive third year standing at the head. 

“Hinata! Where have you been?” Daichi asked him when he reached the table, looking a couple drinks in. 

“I was just chatting with the volleyball team. Did you know they were gonna be here?” Hinata asked. 

“No, but I’m not surprised. Bokuto knows a lot of people. Oh, Hinata, do you know Oikawa?” Daichi gestured between them. 

Yamaguchi wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Yeah, he knows Oikawa.” Hinata remembered Yamaguchi making some comment about Hinata liking Oikawa when he’d come to the cafe.

Hinata stumbled over his words. “Yeah, we’ve, uh, we’ve bumped into each other a couple times. Yeah.”

Oikawa patted Hinata’s shoulder. Hinata felt a piece of himself shrivel up and die. “Well, I should be going. My boyfriend _should_ be bringing me a drink soon. Well, he’s not one for crowds. I should probably go find him. Thank you all for chatting with me!” Oikawa waved and walked away. 

“Damn, Hinata. He’s got a boyfriend. That’s too bad, he was cute,” Yamaguchi said, elbowing Hinata lightly. 

Hinata sighed. “Yeah. That’s too bad.”

Hinata thought back to Kageyama, sitting at the table with his team. He didn’t look like he was getting anyone a drink anytime soon. 

_Maybe he’s just a shitty boyfriend._

After a while of chatting, and quite a few drinks in an attempt to drown all thoughts of Oikawa in fruity liqueur, Hinata excused himself to go to the bathroom. After getting directions from Lev, he finally found the bathroom marked ‘men’. 

As he pushed open the door, he heard moans and the sounds of kissing. Aggressive kissing. 

He stared in shock at the back of what was undeniably Oikawa’s head. He felt sick. He was gonna throw up, he couldn’t look at Oikawa, or Kageyama and his spiky hair and tan skin- 

Hinata did a double take. It was obviously Oikawa. He was wearing the same shirt and his hair was pretty unmistakable. But the other guy was _not_ Kageyama. 

The tan skin and spiked hair looked familiar. It was only when Hinata had silently backed out of the bathroom that he placed him as Oikawa’s friend from that first volleyball game. 

He’d all but forgotten about his companion, who’d called him Shittykawa and flicked the back of his head as they walked away. 

Hinata pressed his back against the wall and closed his eyes. He glanced to his right to see the unisex single stall bathroom, and after a quick prayer of thanks to the universe, he slipped inside.

On his way out, he pressed his ear to the door of the men’s room. The sounds were the same as from earlier. 

Feeling almost numb, Hinata made his way to the bar and slipped onto a stool. He glanced down the bar to see Lev chatting with another patron, a short guy with light brown hair. 

Oikawa was cheating on Kageyama. 

Kageyama was being cheated on by Oikawa. 

He had to tell Kageyama. He had to. If he didn’t, that would make him as bad as Oikawa. Hinata remembered when one of his friends in high school had been cheated on. 

She had cried for _days._ She’d barely slept and Hinata and their other friends had needed to force feed her at lunch since she wouldn’t eat. Then the guy had the audacity to parade around his new girlfriend, which had just made the situation worse. 

Hinata had cried with her. He was not very good at comforting people, he just tended to feel what they’re feeling, which can lead to spiraling. So when she saw them holding hands, she would start to cry, so he would start to cry too. 

Hinata tried to imagine Kageyama crying. Something about the mental image just didn’t fit, like trying to fit a picture into a frame that’s an inch too small. It just felt wrong. 

But he probably would cry. If Oikawa was ready to make out in a public restroom that anyone can walk right into, he probably wouldn’t have any qualms about showing off his tan friend to the world, including Kageyama. 

This development was too much for Hinata. He put his head on his folded arms over the bar. 

“You alright?” Hinata turned to see a young man with an undercut staring at him. He was smirking and looked just a bit sinister. 

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine,” Hinata replied, not in the mood for conversation, but not rude enough to outright ignore him. 

“You don’t look fine,” the man said. “I’m Terushima. And you are?” When he spoke, Hinata saw a flash of silver on his tongue. 

“I’m sorry, I’m really not in the mood right now,” Hinata replied, sounding ruder than he ever did. 

“Oh, don't be like that, sugar. We’re having a nice conversation!” Terushima placed a firm hand on Hinata’s arm. 

Hinata stared at the unwelcome hand and then back in Terushima’s smirking face. 

He sent up a silent prayer for a guardian angel. 

  
  


——————

  
  


Kageyama stared in boredom at his teammates. The whole table had seemed to dull when Hinata had left. Kageyama knew he had been creepy, staring at him the whole time, but he couldn’t help it. 

He was sure that this was the first and last time they’d be together for such an extended period of time. He wanted to memorize Hinata’s face. The way he spoke. The way his eyes scrunched up when he laughed, which was often. 

All thoughts of a boring night had gone out the window when he’d first seen that flash of orange. He’d seen Suga, the silver haired man first, but had brushed it off as coincidence. 

Then he’d spotted the tall, intimidating guy with the weirdly gentle way of speaking. He’d started to get suspicious. 

Finally, he’d seen a blur of orange being dragged to his table and all thoughts of coincidence flew out the window. There was Hinata right in front of him. 

Hinata had glared and picked the seat furthest away from Kageyama. Kageyama tried not to mind. 

He failed. Miserably. 

He sighed and gave the room a cursory glance. Oikawa and Iwaizumi were nowhere to be seen, probably off making out in a bathroom somewhere. 

What Kageyama needed was another drink. 

He excused himself from the table and made his way to the bar. What he didn’t expect to see was a shock of orange hair already sitting there. 

The man next to him had his hand on Hinata’s arm and was leaning in. 

Kageyama’s stomach sank. First the girl from the cafe, now this guy? 

“Please don’t touch me.” 

Kageyama froze. Did he hear that right?

“Please, stop. Get your hand off of my arm. Don’t touch me.”

It was all Kageyama could do not to run to Hinata’s side. He settled for a fast walk. He stood behind Hinata and stared down the smirking man with all the anger and hatred he could muster. 

“I think he told you to stop.” The man looked up. So did Hinata, but Kageyama wasn’t focused on him right now. 

“And who are you to tell me what to do?” The man sounded more confident than he looked. 

“Oh, fuck off,” Kageyama snarled. 

With a final squeeze of Hinata’s arm and a glare at Kageyama, he slunk off to some dark corner of the bar, off to do God knows what. 

Kageyama sat down on the stool next to Hinata. 

Screw Hinata hating him. He needed to make sure he was alright. That was the first priority. 

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” He searched his face for signs of tears. Hinata just stared at him with those big brown eyes. Then he started to laugh. His eyes crinkled and he snorted.

“I- huh?” Kageyama asked. 

“You- I was praying for a guardian angel. Like, right before you showed up. You’re my guardian angel!” Hinata snorted again. He was obviously a few drinks in. 

“How drunk are you?”

“Uwaaah! Hush, you! I’m barely even tipsy! You’re just hilarious.”

Kageyama stared at him in disbelief. Hinata stared back. 

“Please tell me you’re not driving home like this,” Kageyama said. 

“Psshh, I’m not driving home at all! I’m walking. My car is broken.” 

“I can probably give you a ride… you know if you need one…” Hinata stared at him again. 

Was it so crazy to think that Kageyama was capable of kindness? “I just need to find Oikawa and- Are you okay?”

At the mention of Oikawa, Hinata’s face had plummeted. He looked like he was about to throw up. Or faint. Or both. 

“Kageyama, I have to tell you something.” Kageyama’s stomach clenched. A million awful possibilities ran through his head. 

“You have to promise not to be mad at me for telling you. You can be mad at him, just please don’t be mad at me. I know you already think I’m-“ 

“Just spit it out. Please. You’re killing me.”

Hinata took a deep breath and looked down at the bar.

“Yourboyfriendismakingoutwithsomeguyinthemensrestroom.”

Kageyama stared at him. He hadn’t understood a single word that came out of Hinata’s mouth. 

“Could you repeat that? Slower this time.”

“Your boyfriend. I saw him making out with some guy in the bathroom. I know it was him, I swear I’m not lying.”

Kageyama’s mind stopped working. 

_Boyfriend?_

The only person Kageyama was at all interested in was sitting directly in front of him. No matter who was making out in the bathroom, it wouldn’t really bother him. 

“I shouldn’t have told you. No, yes, I should have. How do I comfort you?” He tentatively put a hand on Kageyama’s shoulder. The touch sent a bolt of electricity running through him. “It’s gonna get better.”

Kageyama stared at the hand on his shoulder, then at Hinata. He suddenly realized the obvious thing to say. 

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“What? Yes, you do.” 

“I think I would know if I had a boyfriend.”

“But- So you _aren’t_ dating Oikawa-san?”

Kageyama just about had a stroke. 

“Oikawa? Like, Oikawa Tooru?”

Hinata looked almost ashamed. “Well, yeah. In the grocery store with the arm holding and the coffee shop with the staring. And you both drink black coffee! What else was I supposed to think?”

“I don’t know, maybe that we both like our coffee black? Idiot! You thought we were dating because we have the same drink order? Who thinks like that?” Kageyama said, astounded. 

“Don’t call me an idiot! You’re the idiot!” Hinata retorted. 

This was not how Kageyama had wanted their first conversation to go. At all. 

“That’s such a childish comeback! Can you be more creative?” Kageyama couldn’t help himself. He was never one to back down from a competition. 

“Sure I can… Bakageyama! Hah! How’s that for creativity?” Hinata looked incredibly smug. 

Kageyama snorted. “God you’re annoying.” Hinata’s face fell. He looked down to the counter. 

“Sorry.”

Saying that Kageyama was confused would have been an understatement. They had been bantering, nearing flirting territory. Then Hinata had just- stopped. 

“What the fuck are you sorry for?”

Hinata shrugged, all the fire gone from him. “Just for… being annoying, I guess. In general.”

“Hinata, I was just-“

“No, no. It’s fine. I get it.” He looked up at Kageyama. “I should probably get back to my friends. They’re probably worrying about me. And I’ll pass on the ride, thanks.” He got a few steps away before he turned back around. There were tears in his eyes, though they hadn’t yet fallen. 

“Thanks for being my guardian angel, Kageyama.”

Kageyama’s heart lurched. He stared at the back of Hinata’s head as he walked away. 

What just happened? 

One second they were talking- well, arguing was a better word- and the next, Hinata was walking away close to tears. 

What the fuck had Kageyama done wrong?

He watched as Oikawa stumbled out of the bathroom, visibly drunk, dragging a blushing Iwaizumi. 

Kageyama stared at his stupid roommate as he thought about what Hinata had said. 

_The arm holding._

Kageyama thought back to the grocery store where he and Oikawa had run into Hinata. Oikawa had towed him around the store by his elbow, but it had felt more like a mother dragging their child to Kageyama. Maybe it didn’t look that way. 

_The staring._

When did he stare at Oikawa? Most of the time, he was either zoned out or actively ignoring Oikawa. 

He suddenly remembered that day in the coffee shop, when Hinata had been crying and came in late. He had been listening to Oikawa’s story intently as a way to keep himself from running into that back room and finding out what was wrong for himself. Staring at Oikawa was the only way to keep him from sprinting to Hinata.

_Fuck me._

“Tobio-chan, why the long face?” Oikawa had made his way to the bar and had half-sat, half-fallen onto the stool next to him, where Hinata had been sitting. 

“Can we go home. Please,” Kageyama said quietly. 

Iwaizumi studied him before grabbing Oikawa by the hand and pulling him out of the bar. 

Kageyama sat in the back of the car, staring out the window at the passing trees and stores and telephone poles. 

He looked at Iwaizumi, who had his free hand entwined with Oikawa’s. He sighed heavily, thinking of Hinata and creepy guys at the bar and the way his name had sounded in Hinata’s mouth. 

_Thanks for being my guardian angel, Kageyama._

If Kageyama was Hinata’s guardian angel, the universe really had it out for him. 

He hoped Hinata had gotten home okay. He hoped someone who wasn’t an idiotic asshole had offered him a ride. He thought of Hinata, tipsy, losing his balance in some back alley as he tried to walk home in the dark. How far away did he live? Far enough for something bad to happen on the way, Kageyama was sure. 

He shivered. 

He hoped Hinata was alright. 

But Kageyama knew Hinata was probably better when he wasn’t around.   
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay before you come at me for making terushima a creep - you gotta admit that mans was creeping on kiyoko in that one episode. let’s be honest with each other here. 
> 
> you had enough of ‘bossy mom’ suga, i now give you ‘wine aunt’ suga, cause the world needs more of him. don’t worry, he will be making another appearance soon ;)
> 
> also i’ve been planning the “hinata catches oikawa ‘cheating’” scene since like chapter three omg i’ve been WAITING for this 
> 
> one last thing. if my phone corrects iwa-chan to iowa-chan one more time i am going to lose my fucking marbles 😃
> 
> thank you for the kudos and kind words. you all really make my day. like honestly. i love and appreciate you all <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hinata is spiraling.
> 
> that’s pretty much it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is kinda boring compared to the emotional rollercoaster of chapter nine BUT i think it’s a good look into hinata’s mind, so i still like it 
> 
> it is late right now, so there will probably be typos/grammatical errors in this chapter, so sorry, but i am too tired to edit as well as i usually do. sorry if it bugs you a lot!

“Thanks for being my guardian angel, Kageyama.” 

That was all Hinata could say as he turned around. The minute he broke eye contact, he could feel the tears start to stream down his face. 

He couldn’t face his friends like this, and he barely knew the guys on his volleyball team. He pushed his way back to the single stall unisex bathroom. 

He sat on the edge of the toilet and let his tears fall. 

It felt as though the whole night was falling apart around him, like the walls were crumbling and the floor was cracking. Hinata just fell, and kept falling, his stomach somewhere back in the real world. 

He wished he could just fall forever. 

_God, you’re annoying._

Hinata had forgotten. 

No, Hinata had _let_ himself forget. 

Forget that no matter how sincere he looked when he asked if Hinata was okay, no matter how fun it had been to banter with him, to Kageyama, Hinata was just an annoying kid with annoying hair. 

He cursed himself for letting himself believe any differently. 

The worst part was that Kageyama wasn’t dating anyone. It might sound strange for that to be the worst thing about this situation, but to Hinata, it was close to heartbreaking. 

Sure, it had killed a little piece of his heart to see them together. And then shattered that little piece. And then used the shards to repeatedly stab him. 

But knowing that Kageyama was totally available and _still_ didn’t want Hinata hurt more. 

Hinata had held some kind of twisted hope that Kageyama would like him over Oikawa. That Kageyama would choose Hinata. 

That, somehow, Kageyama actually felt the same way. 

That was stupid thinking. 

_Maybe he’s not gay._

Hinata swore out loud. Of course. He hadn’t thought of that. He’d gone straight into assuming after he’d seen them together in the grocery store. 

But Kageyama hadn’t seemed weirded out by the idea of having a boyfriend. He’d seemed more disgusted by the idea of it being Oikawa, to be perfectly honest. 

_But you can’t just_ assume _things._

Right. Just because Hinata was a flaming trash pile of homosexuality, doesn’t mean every man was.

_But he saved you! He was your guardian angel._

Hinata pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. At least he’d stopped with the heaving sobs. 

His guardian angel. 

True, that was the exact wording of his prayer. 

_‘Please, if anyone is listening, I’d like a guardian angel right now. Send one my way.’_

And then he’d looked up to see the last person he expected. The soft lighting in the bar had light him up as if he was glowing. He looked powerful.

And completely unattainable. 

Hinata sighed and walked to the sink, where he threw water on his face, not caring that some spilled onto his shirt. 

His pity party was over. He was going to forget about stupid Bakageyama. 

Which was a shame, because the nickname really was clever. 

Once he deemed himself suitable, and like he hadn’t been sobbing in the bathroom of a bar, he made his way back to the table where his team sat. 

“Hinata! That was a long bathroom run, are you okay?” Suga asked, leaning in so that their noses were almost touching. “Did you vomit?” He stage whispered. He had obviously been drinking the whole night. 

“No, I’m fine. This creep tried to make a play at me, but Ka- one of the guys from the volleyball team told him off.”

“Oh, Hinata!” Suga sighed dramatically. “Of course they’re making a move! You’re irresistible!”

Hinata laughed. Suga turned serious and poked one of his cheeks. 

“I’m not kidding, Hinata. You‘ve got this cute thing going for you. I see the way some of the customers at the cafe look at you!” 

Hinata had never noticed any customers looking at him specifically. Some of the guys made eyes at Yachi, and plenty of people had slipped Daichi their numbers when he came in. 

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed? Hinata, it isn’t normal behavior to make bedroom eyes at someone while you’re ordering coffee! You’ve got charm! And charisma! And you’re so cute! What’s your secret?” Suga stared at him intently, as if he could read his thoughts by looking at him hard enough. 

Hinata was baffled. 

_If I’m so irresistible, how come Kageyama resisted so easily?_

“I- I don’t have a secret. I’m just nice to everyone, I guess.” 

“Damn! I thought maybe you had a special magic cologne or something,” Suga complained. 

Hinata laughed awkwardly. 

“I’m bored. Daichi!” Suga changed topics abruptly. “Daichi! Daichi, Daichi, Daichi, Daichi-“

“ _Yes,_ Suga?” Daichi turned to face him. 

“Do you think this bar has karaoke?”

Hinata watched the wheels turn in Daichi’s head. 

“I’m not sure, Suga. Ask Bokuto. He’d know better than I would,” Daichi finally replied. 

“Great! Hinata, you’re coming with!” Hinata didn't have a chance to respond before he was being pulled through the crowd to the volleyball team’s table. 

The empty seat Kageyama had sat in was like a gaping hole. It was as if Hinata’s mind had circled it in a red pen, it just felt off, like the table had been inverted. 

“Bokuto! Great owl, friend of Daichi, player of volleyball!” Suga announced, as if to the world. “I have a proposition!”

Bokuto turned his head to face Suga, looking extremely amused. “What is your proposition?”

“Karaoke!” Suga yelled. 

Noya and Tanaka looked at each other, then at Ushijima.

“Yes!” They said in unison. 

“I’ll ask Lev. You know he’s the kind of person who would have karaoke ready,” Bokuto stated as he got up from the table. 

Suga clapped his hands together like a child given a lollipop. It was hilarious, really, to see someone Hinata looked up to as a responsible figure be so completely wild and free. 

As Bokuto went to talk to Lev, conversation started back up at the table, but Hinata couldn’t pay attention. He was too distracted by the void that Kageyama’s empty chair couldn’t fill. 

After a couple of mental pep talks, he worked up the courage to turn to the person next to him, who happened to be Tendo. 

“Tendo-san?” He turned to face Hinata, a curious look on his face. “Where did Kageyama go? Did he leave?”

He regretted asking the second Tendo’s eyebrows began to raise playfully. 

“Forget I asked, that was stupid,” Hinata said quickly. 

“No, no. I won’t tell him you said anything. But I’m pretty sure he left with the two friends he brought. He went to the bar a while ago, then I saw him walking out the door. Looked pretty down, though. I’m not sure what happened. I could text him for you-“

“No, no, no, that’s alright. Thank you, Tendo-san!” Hinata gave him what he hoped was a convincing grin. 

It worked well enough, because Tendo smiled and turned back to his previous conversation without saying anything else. 

Why had Kageyama looked sad? Had something happened between when Hinata had left him and Kageyama going home? 

Maybe Terushima had come back for a rematch. Hinata shuddered just thinking about it. 

“Hey, hey, hey! So, good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?” Bokuto said loudly as he approached their table. 

“Bad news!” Suga said. 

“Okay. Bad news, Lev doesn’t have karaoke. And even if he did, he would not be willing to let us sing. He was kinda mean about it.” Suga dramatically slumped onto the table. 

“You never heard the good news! The _good_ news is that _I_ have a karaoke machine at my house! And we can go there!” Bokuto grinned and put his hands on his hips. 

Trust Bokuto to own a karaoke machine. 

Suga lifted his head immediately and cheered, before disappearing to tell the Karasuno group. 

“You coming, little man?” Bokuto asked, looking down at Hinata, who felt suddenly very tiny in his chair. 

He thought about spending hours more with this group. While he was certain to have at least some fun, the whole thing sounded very draining. 

“I… I think I should go home now. I should to call my sister tomorrow, I already ditched her tonight to come here…” Hinata trailed off, still feeling a little guilty about abandoning his bedridden sister.

“Awe, little man, don’t be down! We can send you lots of pictures!” Bokuto clapped a hand on Hinata’s shoulder, making him buckle. He would have fallen over, had he been standing. 

“Bokuto,” a voice from behind them said sternly. “Did you forget that we live in the same house? I need to study tonight, I told you that.” It was Akaashi, looking his neutral self. 

Bokuto’s face fell in record time. “Oh, Akaashi. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think. I forgot. I-“

“Akaashi?” Hinata interrupted. Bokuto seemed to be ready to apologize for hours. “If you need a quiet place to study, you can crash at my apartment. It’s just me and Kenma, and Kuroo will be there tonight, but I’ll make them promise to play their video games with the volume down.”

“Really, Hinata?” Akaashi asked. Hinata nodded. 

“Kenma likes you, I know it. He’ll be fine. We have to walk though, I don’t have a car. Well, even if I did…” He gestured at the table littered with empty glasses to emphasize his point. 

“That’s fine with me. Thanks, Hinata. I appreciate it. I’ll be out of your hair early tomorrow morning, I have a shift at the bookstore.”

Hinata grinned. It would be nice to have a companion to walk home with. 

“Should we head out then?” Akaashi asked. Hinata nodded, requesting Bokuto tell Daichi that he was going home. 

“Remember, Daichi. Not Suga. Well, you can tell Suga too, but he won’t remember where I went.” 

“Alright, alright, I got it! Go home! Bye, Hinata! Bye, Akaashi!” Bokuto waved them off as they stepped into the chilly air. 

They chatted mindlessly for a few minutes before settling into a comfortable silence. Hinata stared at the dark store fronts and streetlights as he walked, trying hard not to think about Kageyama. 

By the time they reached his apartment complex, Hinata was mentally exhausted from trying so hard not to think. Muscle memory was the only thing putting one leg in front of the other as they climbed the stairs and down the hall. 

As they stepped into the living room, toeing their shoes off, Hinata gestured for Akaashi to stay put. 

“Wait here. I’m sure Kenma’s awake, I just gotta make sure him and Kuroo aren’t, like, naked or something gross.”

Hinata knocked on Kenma’s door, relieved when he heard a muffled ‘come in’ from the other side. 

He peeked in to see them both sitting on the bed, Kenma between Kuroo’s legs, Kuroo watching Kenma’s Switch as he played a game. 

“Hey, Kenma, I’m letting Akaashi crash on the couch. He has to study and go to work tomorrow. Is that okay?” Hinata asked. 

“Sure. Tell him he can eat anything but the Fruit Loops, ‘cause I just bought those,” Kenma replied. Kuroo was absentmindedly playing with Kenma’s two toned hair. Hinata wasn’t sure he even realized he was doing it. 

Hinata felt his heart pang with longing. 

He closed the door softly and walked back to the living room, where Akaashi was still leaning against the door, his eyes closed. 

“All clear. Kenma says stay away from his Fruit Loops, but that’s pretty much it. Eat what you want, besides them. You can shower tonight if you want, or tomorrow morning if you feel like it. I’ll grab the extra bedding.”

Akaashi nodded his thanks as Hinata rifled through the linen closet for the extra duvet. 

After Akaashi’s sleeping arrangements were to Hinata’s satisfaction, he left him to his studying, headphones in his ears and textbook on his knee. 

Hinata yawned and walked back into his room, flopping onto the bed. After a few minutes of his belt digging uncomfortably into the skin of his back, he rolled off of the bed and stumbled to his closet, throwing on a worn cotton t-shirt and wiggling out of his skinny jeans. 

He collapsed back into the bed and brought out his phone. He stared at the dark screen for a moment, building up his courage. 

Finally, he unlocked it and opened Instagram. Kageyama was his most recent search, so he clicked on his profile first. It was the same as it had been when Hinata had first seen it. 

He found the move-in picture with Oikawa and clicked on his profile. Taking a deep breath, he scrolled through Oikawa’s posts with fresh eyes.

This Iwaizumi guy had commented something along the lines of ‘stop being so gay’ on almost every single post. 

Hinata now knew him as Oikawa’s boyfriend, so it made a lot more sense. He clicked on his username. 

**Iwaizumi Hajime**

**Volleyball**

**University of Tokyo**

Hinata took him as a man who didn’t waste time on unnecessary words. He let out a stifled gasp as he looked at his photos. 

Every photo was of Oikawa. 

Oikawa at the movies, Oikawa eating noodles, Oikawa and some weird statue of a bird. They were all captioned something like ‘this dumbass’ or ‘look at this bird-brain, he's the one next to the statue.’

But Hinata could practically feel the devotion coming from the screen. He was practically drowning in it. 

Hinata sighed and turned off the phone, suddenly feeling incredibly lonely. He thought about Kenma and Kuroo, who were probably snuggling right now. 

Hinata tossed and turned for a while before grabbing one of his pillows and hugging it with his arms and legs.

And if he fell asleep imagining that the pillow was a tall, handsome, angry looking setter, well, nobody had to know. 

—————

“Good morning, Suga-san!” Hinata said brightly, pushing open the door to the cafe. 

“Hinata… so loud… why so _loud?_ We need to get rid of those damn bells…” Suga was incredibly and obviously hungover. 

Hinata was a total lightweight when it came to drinking, but something about his positive demeanor cancelled out hangovers. He would throw up if he _really_ overdid it, but the small headache when he woke up was nothing that a few painkillers couldn’t fix. 

“Sorry, Suga-san.” Hinata flipped on the rest of the lights. Suga flinched and hissed, almost like a vampire. “This is, like, the third time you’ve been in this week! I mean, I’m not complaining, but what’s up with that?”

“We’re an up-and-coming independent business, Hinata! Daichi and I noticed that you all seemed especially busy lately, so we decided to cover a few shifts, at least until we can hire someone new.”

“Gotcha. It’s nice to have you around, Suga-san.” Hinata beamed at him. Suga smiled back. 

“Suga-san?” Hinata asked after a moment.

”Yes, Hinata?” Suga replied, looking over his shoulder. 

“Do you think I’m... annoying?”

Suga stared at him, before walking over and karate chopping his side. 

“Absolutely not! And you better not be thinking that about yourself! I’ll chop you again,” Suga threatened playfully.

Hinata laughed and smiled again. Trust Suga to cheer him up. 

Today, Hinata was making a point to be extra positive. He wasn’t going to let someone who barely knew him ruin his day.

It hadn’t helped that all of Hinata’s dreams had been filled with dark blue eyes and silky black hair. 

Hinata refused to think about that. He refused to even think of his name today. Today would be the first step to getting over him. 

The morning rush passed with only a few spilled drinks, but the were all on Hinata’s side of the counter, so even if they were annoyed at the wait, patrons couldn’t get _too_ mad at him. 

Hinata sat in the break room with his bento during lunch. Yamaguchi sat across from him. 

“You know, Hinata, it’s a shame that that guy had a boyfriend. You two would have been cute.” Hinata stifled a laugh. 

Now that he knew the true nature of Oikawa’s relationship with _him_ , Hinata no longer felt any real negativity towards the handsome third year. 

Besides, one look at Iwaizumi’s Instagram profile would be enough to send any potential suitors running. Despite the sarcastically rude captions, it was obvious that the man would fight tooth and nail for Oikawa. 

“You know, I have a friend from high school I could set you up with. He’s pretty nice, and he’s gay,” Yamaguchi said, resting his chin on his hand. 

“I’m okay, really, Yamaguchi. I don’t like Oikawa like that. When he came into the coffee shop, I… I thought he was someone else. That’s all,” Hinata said, somewhat lamely. 

“Hmm. That’s a shame, Hinata. He seemed nice.”

“Yeah.” Hinata glanced at the clock. “We should probably get back out there, huh.” 

Yamaguchi groaned, but they both packed their bentos away and re-tied their aprons. 

Hinata tapped Yachi on the shoulder, signaling it was time for her lunch break. She smiled gratefully and turned around so Hinata could help untie her apron. 

“Bye, Yachi! Have fun! Good luck!” Yamaguchi called. 

“Good luck?” Hinata asked.

“Yeah! She’s going on a date with some girl from her art class. She sounds nice,” Yamaguchi replied. 

“Good for her!” Hinata said cheerfully. 

It really was good for her. Yachi was a catch, Hinata was sure the date would go well. 

Just because Hinata’s dating life was going up in flames didn’t mean everyone around him had to fail at love. 

The door jingled it’s welcome to a new customer. 

Hinata looked over his shoulder. 

Then he made eye contact with an unexpected, extremely familiar set of dark blue eyes.   
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> teehee! i couldn’t write a whole fic and never leave you guys on a cliffhanger!!! but don’t worry! i’ll be here, same time tomorrow to tell you all what happens next. 
> 
> i’m sorry this chapter is short, but it’s late and i need to sleep :-( 
> 
> i promise next one will be longer (and more exciting)
> 
> thank you all so so so much for the kudos and sweet comments! i don’t know what i did to get the nicest readers, but you guys are seriously awesome. love you all <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i wonder who will show up at the coffee shop today? (hint: it’s more people than you’d expect)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love this chapter so much for some reason. something about it just makes my brain go brrr
> 
> i like writing for kageyama for the sole reason that some sadistic part of me really enjoys writing his overthinking side. i guess i just relate somewhat 
> 
> enjoy enjoy enjoy

This was a stupid idea. Kageyama knew that. He knew that it was a stupid idea that would only serve to make things worse. 

But he was doing it anyways. 

His thoughts bounced around in his head like a pinball machine. But he kept putting one foot in front of the other, if only because he knew that just sitting at home would have been worse. 

If he was at home, he would just be staring at the ceiling, replaying Hinata’s tearful face over and over again, resisting the urge to bang his head into the wall repeatedly. 

So he’d decided to go for a run. Just a simple, no strings attached run on the route he used every time. A normal run. 

It wasn’t his fault that his feet had led him here. He wasn’t exactly in the headspace to keep an eye on every part of himself, so while he was keeping a handle on his erratic thoughts, he hadn’t noticed that he was running to the coffee shop instead of his normal route. 

It wasn’t until a blonde girl bumped into him on her way out that he fully realized where he was. 

He could see Hinata inside through the window. 

He looked radiant. He was grinning and laughing at something his coworker was saying, running a hand through his hair. Kageyama could practically see his big eyes sparkle, straight out of a cartoon. 

He needed to go home. He needed to turn around and run home as fast as he could. He needed to leave Hinata alone. 

It was a stupid idea to go inside. It would be better to just watch from here, creepy as it was. At least he wouldn’t say something stupid or rude. 

His hands didn’t listen to logic as they pushed the door open. 

The jingling bells must have been louder than usual, because they rattled through Kageyama’s brain like a bullet train. 

It felt like the world was in slow motion as he watched Hinata turn over his shoulder to face him. 

That familiar spark of electricity coursed through him, lighting him up from the ends of his fingers to the top of his head. 

He walked slowly up to the counter, never breaking eye contact. 

He cursed himself for being in his running clothes. He probably looked gross and sweaty, and not at all like someone to take seriously. 

“Hi,” Kageyama said lamely when he reached the counter. 

“Hi,” Hinata replied softly. He seemed a little out of breath. Kageyama didn’t know making coffee could be exhausting. 

“Black coffee?” Hinata asked tentatively. 

Kageyama blinked. “Uh, yes. Please.” 

Hinata stared at him for a second before turning around. 

“Hinata, wait!” Hinata spun back around to face Kageyama. The bells on the front door jingled, but he ignored them. 

_ Well, shit. I got him to stop. What the fuck do I say?” _

“I think I offended you last night. And I really, I didn’t mean to, I don’t know what I-“

“Kageyama Tobio?” Kageyama felt his eyes widen and every muscle in his body freeze. The breath caught in his chest as he turned around, very slowly. 

“Twice in a month, King! What are the chances!” Yuutaro Kindaichi was standing just inside the cafe. 

This had to be the worst day of Kageyama’s life. Some deity up in the sky had planned his entire existence just to lead up to this moment as some kind of sick joke. 

“Kindaichi,” was all Kageyama could spit out. 

Kindaichi glanced at Kageyama, then behind his shoulder at Hinata. 

“Oh, King, leave the poor barista alone. You wouldn’t want to boss him to death, he needs to make your coffee just perfectly, doesn’t he?” Then Kindaichi  _ winked _ at Hinata. Kageyama felt his left eye twitch. He reached for hoodie strings that weren’t there, not anymore. 

He wanted to shrivel up and die. He wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground and curl up and never see sunlight again. He wanted to-

“Excuse me. Kageyama and I were having a conversation. If you need to order, you don’t have to be mean to him, just talk to me.” Hinata poked his head over the counter. 

“Really? You  _ chose  _ to talk to this guy?” Kindaichi scoffed. 

Kageyama stared in disbelief at Hinata. Was Hinata defending him?  _ Why? _

“How do you two know each other?” Kindaichi asked skeptically. 

“Kageyama is on the volleyball team, and I go see the games! I’m friends with the players now,” Hinata said. He sounded excited, but he was still eyeing Kindaichi with a look of distrust. It was unsettling on his kind looking features. 

“Oh, so you’ve seen the King in action, huh? Is he still that bad? You can tell me, don't mind Kageyama.” Kindaichi winked again and elbowed Kageyama in the side. He stumbled backwards, completely off-balance. 

Kageyama felt his stomach squeeze like a vice. Here it was. When the guy he hated and the guy he had no shot with bonded over Kageyama’s biggest insecurity. He closed his eyes shut tightly in preparation. 

“What do you mean? Kageyama is, like, the best setter in the world!” Kageyama’s eyes flew open, but Hinata wasn’t paying him any attention. “I watch him during the games, he’s so focused! I don’t think I’ve ever been that focused in my life. Ever! But he’s like that the whole game! I’d love to be on a team with someone like him.” 

In that moment, someone could have walked up to Kageyama, spit on him and shot him point blank in the head, and he would still die a happy man. 

But Hinata wasn’t done. 

“And I don’t know what kind of insult ‘King’ is, because I’d love to be a king! I think it’s the coolest!” 

Kindaichi laughed. “I see you’ve brainwashed yourself a court jester, huh, King? Too bad. Well, anyways, I’ll take a green tea.”

“Say please.” Kageyama growled. He didn’t think before he spoke, he just saw Kindaichi being rude to Hinata and immediately jumped in.

”Excuse me?” Kindaichi replied, incredulous.

”It’s rude to order without saying please. Don’t be rude to Hinata,” Kageyama spat out. 

Kindaichi turned to Kageyama and grinned. “There he is. I’ve been waiting for your true self to come out to play. Well, you would know a thing or two about being rude. Alright. I’ll have a green tea,  _ please. _ ” He smirked at Hinata, who was staring at Kageyama. 

Hinata started. “Right. Yeah. I’ll start that for you. Both of you. Right away.” With a final glance at Kageyama, Hinata scurried off to make the drinks. 

“Damn. Too bad I’m in a relationship, huh, King? The barista’s kinda cute, wouldn’t you say?” Kindaichi said slyly. 

Kageyama didn’t respond. Couldn’t respond. He grunted noncommittally instead and stalked off to the pick up counter, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. 

Of course Kindaichi followed him. They stood in tense silence for a few minutes. 

“I have a green tea here,” Hinata called out tentatively. 

Kindaichi strode forward. Kageyama watched as he brushed his fingers against Hinata’s when he grabbed the cup. “Thank you,” Kindaichi glanced at his name tag. “Hinata,” he finished, winking a final time before walking out of the cafe. 

Kageyama felt his chest loosen the second the door swung closed behind Kindaichi. He braced his hands against the counter and closed his eyes, leaning his head back. 

He stayed like that until a small voice called his name. 

“Kageyama?” Hinata was standing, holding a cup of black coffee. “I don’t- I don’t want to pry, but are you alright? Who was that?”

Kageyama sighed. “I’m sorry you had to talk to him, Hinata. That was Kindaichi, we went to highschool together. He’s kind of…” 

“A total asshole?” Hinata finished for him.

Kageyama chuckled. “Yeah. And did you notice his hair? It sticks straight up! It looks like a fucking onion. Some people, they have hair that just ticks me off. I don’t know why.” He sighed again, not looking at Hinata.

“You wouldn’t get it, Hinata. You have great hair. Plus, you’re not a total asshole.” Kageyama finally looked up. 

“You think I have great hair?” Hinata nearly squeaked. He was bright red from his chin to the tips of his ears. Had Kindaichi really embarrassed him that much?

“Well, yeah, I guess. It’s all… fluffy. And I like orange. It’s a nice color. Suits you.” 

_ What the fuck are you saying? And why the fuck are you saying it? _

The compliments had just spilled out of Kageyama like word vomit. Hinata looked absolutely shocked. It was like his soul had left his body, leaving only a shell of what was once Hinata Shouyou. 

Was it so crazy that Kageyama could say something nice about his hair? Was that so outside of the realm of possibility? 

Well, if he was going to embarrass himself to all hell, he might as well do it thoroughly.

“I never got to finish earlier. I’m really sorry if I offended you at the bar. I don’t really understand what I did, but I’m sorry. So… Yeah. I guess that’s all I really wanted to say.” Kageyama turned around, ready to leave this cafe and never come back. 

“Kageyama?” Hinata’s voice sounded extremely small. 

He tentatively turned back around. Hinata was staring at the floor. 

“When I ran into you at the store, that one night…”

_ Why does he look so embarrassed? _

“You and Oikawa were talking about someone. I kind of overheard you guys when I was behind you. Was it… Was it him? Kindaichi?”

Kageyama blinked slowly a couple of times, trying to remember. 

“Yeah. We were. Oikawa took me to get ramen to cheer me up because- actually, nevermind why. It’s not important. To the story, I mean,” Kageyama stuttered an excuse. 

_ To cheer me up because of my absolutely hopeless crush on you, Hinata.  _

“But Kindaichi showed up at the ramen place. He was a total asshole. So, yeah. That’s what we were talking about.”

Hinata had an extremely odd look on his face. It was a mixture of relief, shame, and something else that Kageyama couldn’t quite place, but made butterflies erupt deep in his gut. 

Maybe it was those butterflies that made him say it. 

“Do you want to play volleyball with me?” Kageyama asked, speaking very quickly. It was a split second decision to ask, one he hoped he wouldn’t regret. “It’s just, you were saying that you wanted to play with me when you were talking to Kindaichi, so I figured- Nevermind, you don’t have to-“

“Really?” Hinata whispered, staring up at Kageyama. 

Kageyama had never noticed how long and full Hinata’s eyelashes were. He was noticing now. 

“Yeah,” he replied, equally quietly. “If you want.”

“I get off of work at five. You probably don’t want to stay here while I work, that would be really boring,” Hinata said, staring at a spot somewhere to Kageyama’s right instead of his eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go home. I need to shower anyway, so… I’ll see you at five. To play volleyball.” Kageyama looked at Hinata, who was now staring at the ceiling. 

Kageyama had a sudden, intrusive thought. 

_ He’s probably just going because he feels bad.  _

No, Hinata wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do what his high school team had done. 

Would he?

“We’re playing as friends, right?” Kageyama asked, suddenly nervous. 

Hinata’s eyes snapped to his. When he responded, he sounded almost sad. 

“Right. Friends. We’re playing as friends. I’ll see you at five, Kageyama.”

Kageyama ignored what hearing his name in Hinata’s mouth did to the butterflies in his stomach and waved goodbye before walking out the door. 

Suddenly, Kageyama regretted calling them friends. 

He didn’t like just being Hinata’s friend. Something about it felt inadequate, as if it didn’t accurately sum up everything that Kageyama felt. 

But Hinata seemed perfectly fine with being friends. And that was more than Kageyama had ever hoped for when it came to Hinata. 

So if ‘friend’ was all he could get, he was going to make it work. 

—————

  
  


“Tobio-chan!” Oikawa sang when he saw Kageyama come through the door. “What’s wrong with your face? Oh, my God, mother above… Are you smiling, Tobio-chan?” Oikawa launched himself over the back of the couch, skidding to a stop right in front of Kageyama. 

Oikawa prodded his cheek with an outstretched finger. “Well, now you look grumpy again.” 

Kageyama swatted his finger away. “Of course I look grumpy, your grubby finger is in my face!”

“Don’t call my fingers grubby, Tobio-chan! Not all of us are obsessed with constant hand maintenance,” Oikawa pouted and stuck out his tongue. 

“That’s for volleyball, idiot!” 

“Don’t be rude! I just wanted to know why you were smiling like a dope when you came in!”

Kageyama scowled. “I’m playing volleyball later.”

Oikawa frowned in return and narrowed his eyes. “You’re always playing volleyball. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing! I’m just excited to play volleyball!” 

Oikawa’s frown deepened. “Look, Tobio-chan. I’m sorry for insulting your nail care. I know it’s very sacred to you. Can you tell me now?”

“Fine!” Kageyama collapsed into the couch, Oikawa swiftly following. 

“Well, I went to the coffee shop today,” Kageyama started. Oikawa’s eyes raised suggestively. “Don’t look at me like that! Anyways, I went to the coffee shop to apologize to Hinata because I think I upset him at the bar last night-“

“You never told me you two talked at the bar!” Oikawa accused. 

“Maybe because you were drunk off your ass! Don’t interrupt.” Kageyama glared. “So I went to the coffee shop to apologize and then, out of nowhere, Kindaichi shows up. So he’s being a total dickhead to me, and he keeps winking at Hinata. But then Hinata starts ranting about how good I am at volleyball. So after Kindaichi left, I asked if he wanted to play with me. And he did. So we’re meeting at five.”

Oikawa stared at him. “Oh, my God. My little roommate is going on a date!”

“It’s not a date! We said we’re going as friends. We made that clear.”

Oikawa’s face fell. “No! No, Tobio-chan, you guys are made for each other! It’s meant to be!”

Kageyama spluttered. “It’s not- We aren’t- Shut up, dumbass!” He hit Oikawa with a throw pillow. 

“Oi! You don’t have time to hit me, you need to go get ready!” Kageyama grunted and started to walk down the hall to take a shower. “For your date!” 

“It’s not a date!” Kageyama have growled, half yelled down the hall behind him. 

But fuck him, he wished it was. 

He used his shower as an opportunity to calm his jumpy nerves. It was like his whole body was being pulled in every direction. Every inch of his skin was pricking. 

He stared at himself in the mirror in nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. He grabbed the sink with his hands and leaned forward. 

Hesitantly, he tried to smile. 

He immediately stopped. He looked possessed, or like someone was pulling at his face instead of a normal smile. 

He tried again. 

Straight out of a horror movie. 

Kageyama sighed and stared at the ceiling. 

Maybe he just didn’t smile enough as a child and the muscles in his face didn’t develop correctly. Maybe he just wasn’t meant to smile. 

He tried to smile one last time before huffing out a breath of defeat and storming to his room. 

He stared at his closet, feeling completely lost.

In a matter of minutes, almost every item of clothing he owned had been discarded onto the bed. 

With a sigh, Kageyama closed his eyes and plunged his hand blindly into the pile, opening it when he had a shirt in his grasp. 

It was dark blue and form fitting. Maybe not Kageyama’s first choice, but leaving it up to chance was a better option than actually trying to pick an outfit. 

He grabbed his athletic sweatpants next. He pulled them on over his boxers and stared at himself in the mirror. 

He looked like he was going to practice. 

Kageyama supposed it was similar, but practice didn’t make him so nervous that he wanted to hurl out of his third story window. 

He grabbed his personal volleyball from the corner of his room. 

There were a lot of memories attached to that ball. 

Kageyama aged ten, tossing it between his new friends on the volleyball team. 

Kageyama, aged fifteen, setting it back and forth with Oikawa in Kageyama’s backyard. 

Kageyama, aged seventeen, tossing it to himself in his bed, tears of pain and loneliness streaming onto his pillow. 

Kageyama, today, about to go on his first not-date with his unrequited crush. 

He grabbed some snacks to pack from the kitchen and shoved it all into a small gym bag. 

With a deep, steadying breath, Kageyama was walking out the front door. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> silly kageyama, he never says the right thing, does he. but if he did, this fic would be a lot shorter, so he’s gonna keep messing up 😃👍
> 
> tomorrow! you will receive real kagehina interactions that last more than five minutes! just you wait!!!!
> 
> ALSO! thank you for almost a hundred kudos!!! that’s literally crazy to me. when i started writing this, i was gonna go insane when i hit ten. you guys are so awesome!! love you all!!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> woohoo! let’s play some volleyball with our two resident volleyball idiots!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> actual interactions? between the protagonists of this story? am i dreaming? no! it’s actually happening you guys it’s really here 
> 
> teehee soft kagehina moments await you in this chapter! read on to find out! 
> 
> i really hope you guys like this chapter as much as i do

Hinata couldn’t move. He was stuck in place, staring at the door. 

Kageyama had left about two minutes ago. Hinata still hadn’t moved. 

So much had happened in such a short time. Kageyama must’ve been in the cafe for ten minutes, but that was enough time for Hinata’s heart to be taken on an emotional roller coaster. 

“Hinata? Are you all right?” Hinata spun around to see Yamaguchi staring at him inquisitively. 

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Totally!” Hinata said, stumbling to find his words. 

“Who was that guy? What just happened?” Yamaguchi glanced at the door Kageyama had left out of. 

“Kageyama? He’s one of the guys from the volleyball team. The guy with the turnip hair was some asshole from his high school who was being a real jerk, so I defended him. No big deal!” Hinata hoped that Yamaguchi couldn’t see through his words. It must have worked to some extent, because Yamaguchi turned back to the coffee grinder. 

In all honesty, it was a  _ very _ big deal. 

Hinata hadn’t meant to say so much. He hadn’t meant to rant about Kageyama’s volleyball abilities. 

He had been anxiously considering just how much Kageyama could have picked up on during their short conversation for the last two minutes. 

What if he could tell that when Hinata said, ‘I watch him during the games’, that really meant, ‘I literally cannot take my eyes off of him, and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to.’

Or that when Kageyama complimented him, Hinata flushed bright red all over. 

Maybe that was why Kageyama had needed to specify that they were playing as friends. 

Hinata had probably looked too hopeful, too infatuated. Kageyama had needed to make sure Hinata knew that there was nothing between them. 

_ We’re playing as friends, right? _

It wasn’t a date. 

Which was fine! It was totally fine and not at  _ all  _ gut wrenchingly painful. Nope! Everything was completely fine and awesome and great. 

Hinata tried to keep his thoughts under control as he wiped down the counter, staining the paper towel with spilled coffee grounds. 

He was failing spectacularly. 

_ You have great hair. It’s all… fluffy. I like orange. Suits you.  _

Even just thinking about it made Hinata’s stomach dance with nerves. 

Kageyama had complimented him. It was almost too much to believe. His brain had practically short circuited. 

Hinata was so confused. If Kageyama was the ‘King’ of anything, it was sending mixed signals. 

Which Hinata supposed were better than signals of hatred and annoyance. But not by much. 

Hinata tried to focus. Really, he did. He tried to keep his mind on the orders and the coffee machine and the flow of customers.

But it was so hard. 

He was daydreaming about Kageyama. He barely even realized he was doing it, and everytime he caught himself, he would freeze and turn bright red. 

Yamaguchi gave him quite a few weird looks throughout the afternoon. 

At exactly 4:45, Hinata excused himself to the bathroom for the sole purpose of staring at himself in the mirror. 

He combed his fingers through his hair a couple times, but it didn’t make a difference. Hinata knew that was a lost cause, so he gave up early. 

He cursed himself for not giving himself time to go home and change. He was stuck in the sweater he wore when he wanted to be comfortable instead of attractive. 

It was too big on him and it gave him little sweater paws when he didn’t roll the sleeves up. Hinata thought it made him look childish. 

He hoped Kageyama didn’t notice. 

He had a light t-shirt on underneath, but it would probably be too cold to just wear that. The sweater would have to do, at least until they really got into playing volleyball. 

Volleyball. 

Hinata was nervous. Like, extremely nervous. Kageyama was one of the best setters he’d ever seen, in real life or on the tv. Hinata had only actually played in one real game before. 

Sure, sometimes he got Kenma to toss to him in the park, and Kuroo would come by to bump the ball back and forth for a while, but it had been since his first and last middle school tournament that he’d played for real. 

Sure, he wasn’t playing for real  _ now _ , but the stakes felt higher than the Olympics. 

Hinata had been over the moon when he’d finally convinced his closest friends and a couple of first years to scrape together a team for the local tournament. He’d barely slept the night before, too excited to keep his eyes closed for long. 

His team had been absolutely decimated. Crushed. Beaten into oblivion. 

Then Hinata’s high school didn’t have a volleyball team. The school over the mountain had one, but his mother didn’t want him so far away. So he’d been stuck. 

Now he was going to play volleyball again for the first time in years. With  _ Kageyama Tobio.  _

It was truly unbelievable. 

After a last scoff at his stupidly childish sweater paws, Hinata emerged from the bathroom, untying his apron. 

He couldn’t stop tapping his fingers on the counter, despite the sharp looks from an angry looking customer sitting near him. 

“Yamaguchi, you’re closing today, right?” Hinata asked anxiously.

“Yeah, I am.” Yamaguchi paused. “Hinata that’s the third time you’ve asked me that today. What’s wrong?”

Hinata laughed nervously. “What? Nothing’s wrong! I just… forgot!” 

Yamaguchi regarded him suspiciously. “What’s going on, Hinata?” 

“What do you mean what’s going on? Nothing is going on!” Hinata knew he sounded a little unhinged. 

But to be honest, he _was_ a little unhinged at the moment. 

The second he heard the bells at the door chime, Hinata was whirling around so fast it was a miracle he didn’t spin right into the wall. 

Kageyama was standing just inside the threshold looking extremely awkward. When he saw Hinata, he nodded slightly. 

“Ah,” Yamaguchi said softly. “I see. Have fun, Hinata.” Then he winked. 

Hinata flushed immediately. “Don’t- It’s not- We’re just- I’ll see you tomorrow, Yamaguchi!” Then he was fleeing to the other side of the counter, where Kageyama was waiting. 

The butterflies in Hinata’s stomach took flight all at once, nearly making him shiver. 

He grinned at Kageyama, who turned his head away. 

“Where do you want to go?” Kageyama asked, not looking at Hinata. 

“Hmm… I mean, the park is the obvious choice, right?” Hinata said as he pushed open the door, ignoring Yamaguchi, who was waving with a smug look on his face. 

“Yeah. Do you… Uh, can you lead the way?” Kageyama asked, now looking at the ground. 

“I mean, sure! Do you not know where it is?” Hinata started walking, Kageyama at his side. It felt surreal. 

“Well, I… I don’t get out much. I just go to school and to practice. Sometimes to get food or something with the team, but I usually don’t go. That’s really it.” Kageyama looked at Hinata before quickly looking away again. 

“What?” Hinata squawked. “You just don’t go out? Anywhere? Like, ever?” 

“Dumbass, that’s what I just said!” Kageyama responded. 

Somehow, Hinata instinctively knew that there was no malicious intent behind the nickname. Instead it felt almost like a term of endearment. 

But that couldn’t be right. They were just friends. 

“That is just not right! You live in Tokyo! You’re saying you never go to museums, or concerts, or to get ice cream?”

“Not really,” Kageyama said. 

Hinata stared at him in disbelief. Hinata loved the city. He adored exploring the tiny shops and hidden restaurants that you could only find if you knew what to look for. He would never regret moving out of the countryside. 

“Oh, Kageyama. You’ve got a whole city to explore! I’ll be your guide! We’ll start with the park today, but later we can go everywhere else! There’s this crazy art show that’s happening downtown, Yachi is taking this girl from her art class there today, so we can ask her what she thought of it!” 

It was only when he stopped talking that Hinata realized that he had just extended an invitation to see Kageyama again. He hadn’t even meant to, he had just felt it was a crime for anyone to live in the city and not explore it. 

But he started to regret it when he looked up at his companion. 

Kageyama looked strange. It was a mixture of shock and probably about a million other emotions that Hinata couldn’t name. 

“You… You want to hang out again? After today?” Kageyama asked slowly, like it was painful to say. 

“We totally don’t have to, I mean I was just kind of thinking out loud…” Hinata trailed off, a sinking feeling in his gut. 

“No. I want to. I just didn’t think you’d want to hang out with me, is all.” Kageyama turned his head to look at Hinata. 

Hinata tried really hard not to blush. 

“Of course I do! You’re super cool! And no one should have to figure out the city by themself! Plus, you don’t think I’m annoying anymore, so it’ll be, like, ten times more fun!”

_ Shit.  _ Hinata hadn’t meant to say that. He just felt a strange kind of comfortable familiarity around the dark haired boy next to him that he had some trouble controlling his words. 

But maybe Kageyama hadn’t noticed! 

“ _Now that I don’t think you’re annoying anymore?_ What the fuck does that mean?” Kageyama asked accusingly. 

Hinata swore. “Damn. I didn’t mean to say that. I thought you wouldn’t notice.” 

“Of course I noticed, dumbass! Now, what did you mean?”

“What if I don’t want to tell you?” Hinata asked, smirking and looking up at Kageyama. 

In response, Kageyama grabbed Hinata’s hair tightly and pulled sharply. 

“Ouch! What was that for, Bakageyama?” Hinata responded crossly. 

“For being a dumbass! Now tell me. I won’t laugh or anything if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Hinata turned the corner at the end of the block. “It’s not that, it’s just… Well, when I ran into you and Oikawa at the grocery store...” Hinata started nervously. Damn. He _really_ didn’t want to say it. “I kinda thought your conversation was about me. And I was gonna just run away without you finding out I heard you, ‘cause that’s so embarrassing, but Oikawa saw me.”

Kageyama tilted his head. “What conversation?” He asked. 

“You know, when you were talking about Kindaichi. And you were just going on and on about how annoying he was and how much he pissed you off and how you wanted him dead-“

“Hold on! I never said that!”

“I know, but it felt like you were saying that! Only you never actually said ‘Kindaichi’, so I just kinda assumed that you were talking about me. It wasn’t much of a stretch. I do have pretty noticeable hair.” Suddenly a bit self conscious, Hinata ran a hand through his orange locks before glancing up at Kageyama. 

Kageyama looked utterly mortified. Hinata waved a hand in his face. 

“Hello? Earth to Bakageyama! What happened?” 

“Is that… Is that why you looked so sad?”

Hinata started. “You noticed?” He asked softly. He’d assumed Kageyama wouldn’t care enough to notice, but his broken heart had probably been written all over his face. 

Kageyama covered his eyes with his hand before running his fingers through his black hair. It was an unnecessarily and unfairly attractive gesture. 

“And at the bar. I called you annoying.  _ Fuck,”  _ Kageyama swore, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. 

“It’s alright, Kageyama. Really! Now I know you didn’t mean it! So everything’s fine! And I’m sorry I kind of overreacted about it, I probably overwhelmed you a little.” 

“Why are you apologizing to me, dumbass? The only thing that’s annoying about you is that you’re too nice!” Kageyama sighed. 

Hinata’s stomach did a backflip. 

“Don’t say stuff like that, Bakageyama! You might give me the wrong idea! I might start to think you actually like me!” Hinata playfully elbowed his ribs and Kageyama grabbed his hair again in response. 

Translation: Stop being nice to me or I might start to think I have a chance, when you’ve made it clear that I don’t. 

They bickered like that until they reached the park. The sprawling grass stretched out across the low hills, bright green in color. But that wasn’t what caught Hinata’s eye.

“Uwaah! Kageyama! Look! The cherry blossoms are blooming, I didn’t even realize!” Hinata took off running to the nearest tree. 

He pulled a blossom from the branch and held it carefully in his palm, examining it from all sides. 

“Oh, Kageyama! Aren’t these just so pretty?!” Hinata exclaimed. 

“Yeah. Beautiful.” Kageyama spoke very softly, as if Hinata wasn’t meant to hear. Something made him want to memorize the way Kageyama’s voice sounded in that moment, almost like velvet. 

Hinata looked up to find Kageyama already staring at him. “Are you cold, Bakageyama? Your ears are bright red! We need to start playing to warm you up!” 

“Shut up!” Kageyama shouted, covering his ears with his hands. 

Hinata started to walk down the hill, Kageyama at his side. Hinata picked up the pace, just a bit. Kageyama matched him, then went a bit faster. 

Before long, they were both flat out sprinting to the net. 

They reached the court at the same time, both collapsing. They laid on the ground next to each other, breathing heavily. Hinata grinned stupidly and turned his head to face Kageyama. 

“That… was fun… No one ever… wants to… race me…” Hinata said between gasps. 

“That’s… stupid… ‘cause they’d… always win…” Kageyama smirked. 

Hinata punched him in the arm before laughing, looking back at the sky. 

After they’d both regained their breath, Hinata rolled up into a seated position. 

“Please tell me you brought a ball,” Hinata said. 

“Of course I did. We’re  _ playing volleyball,  _ dumbass! You need a ball for that!” 

“Yeah, I know! Which is why I asked!” Hinata protested. 

Kageyama grumbled and brought out a worn-looking blue and yellow striped ball. 

Hinata immediately perked up. He scrambled to the other side of the net as Kageyama slowly stood up. 

“Okay, Kageyama. You can’t get mad at me when I’m bad. I don’t play anymore. And even back in high school, I just played on my own!” 

Kageyama chuckled softly. It sent chills down Hinata’s spine. “You can’t be that bad,” he joked. 

Hinata’s first receive went into the bushes. His second hit the net, and his third rebounded into Hinata’s face. 

Kageyama cackled from across the court. “I take it back! You suck!”

Hinata stuck his tongue out. “Don’t be so mean! I’m trying! Not all of us practice for, like, fifty hours a day!” 

“Dumbass, there aren't fifty hours in a day!” 

“The point still stands! Besides, I was never good at receiving,” Hinata complained. 

“Your technique is just shit! You need to bend your knees more, like this. And you're holding your arms wrong. It should be like this.” Kageyama demonstrated the proper technique 

Hinata tried his best to emulate it, but something just felt wrong. 

“No, no! Like this!” Kageyama sunk lower into his stance. Hinata’s knees just buckled. 

“Dumbass,” Kageyama growled as he stalked over to where Hinata was standing, getting back into position right in front of him. “See? Like this.”

Hinata tried again. Kageyama sighed. “Your lower half is good but your arms are just… all wrong. Here, just let me.” 

Before Hinata knew it, Kageyama was holding his wrists and pulling his arms together, twisting them at the forearm so that his pinky fingers were touching. 

“Now fold your hands like this.” Kageyama’s long fingers enveloped Hinata’s small hands as he tucked them into the correct position. 

Hinata felt like he was about to pass out. 

Kageyama’s hands were cold and left Hinata’s skin feeling tingly wherever their skin happened to brush together. 

Hinata’s nerves were on high alert, pinpointing every point of contact their skin shared. 

When Kageyama took his hands away, it was far too soon. But Kageyama immediately walked back to his side of the net, leaving Hinata reeling and just a little bit dizzy. 

They bumped the ball back and forth for a while, Hinata’s receives slowly but steadily improving. 

“Kageyama, I’m tired of just receiving! I want to do something else!” Hinata complained. 

“Get a drink of water first!” Kageyama yelled back before walking over to his gym bag and pulling out two water bottles, tossing one to Hinata. 

Then Kageyama took off his jacket, revealing a form fitting shirt that matched his eyes. His strong arms were very clearly on display, back muscles flexing as he rolled his shoulders. Hinata just stared at his neck, watching his adam’s apple bounce up and down as he gulped his water. 

Shaking his head, Hinata looked away and drank his own water, spilling a bit down his chin and onto his sweater. 

“Oh, dammit. Oh, well, I was probably gonna need to take it off at some point,” Hinata shrugged. He pulled the sweater off over his head and threw it onto Kageyama’s jacket before stretching his arms over his head. 

“Let’s go, Bakageyama! What are we doing now?” Hinata asked as they walked back onto the court. 

“Did you ever spike in school?” 

Hinata’s eyes widened. “I love to spike! It’s just, I could never find anyone to set for me, so I never really got the chance.” He shrugged. 

“I can toss to you,” Kageyama said quietly. 

“Really, Kageyama? Could you really? Awesome!” Hinata jumped into the air, pumping his fist. 

As they got into position, a surge of adrenaline pumped through Hinata’s veins. Something about this just felt  _ right.  _

He passed the ball to Kageyama, who’s look of intense concentration had appeared. 

As Hinata sprinted towards the net, he felt electricity crackle through him. 

And then he was flying. 

He had a crow’s wings on his back, soaring through the air, a view of the park and it’s cherry blossom trees opening up before him. 

He saw it all with perfect clarity as he flew through the air. He saw the children playing in the grass, he saw the birds wheeling through the air. He saw the ball as it arced through the air before him. 

Hinata slammed it to the other side of the court with a resounding whack. 

He dropped to the ground in front of the net in a crouch, breathing heavily. 

Slowly, he turned his head to look at his setter, who was staring, dumbstruck, at the spot where the ball had hit the ground. 

“Kageyama, that was incredible! The ball was all  _ bwaah  _ and my hand was like  _ fwsh _ and it hit the ground all like  _ slam! _

“Speak Japanese, dumbass! Those aren’t words!” 

They played for hours, both of them having seemingly endless stamina. Eventually, they found themselves sat against a large cherry blossom tree, watching the sun set behind the horizon, the sky painted with hues of orange and pink. 

“Kageyama?” Hinata asked. Kageyama glanced at him. “Why do you get so upset when Kindaichi calls you the king?” 

Hinata could feel Kageyama tense through the shoulders they were brushing together. 

“It’s… a long story.”

“I have time.”

Kageyama sighed. “When I was in school, I was a real asshole. Worse than I am now. I didn’t mean to be, I’ve just never been good with words. And on the team, I wanted us to be the best. So if someone wasn’t doing  something right, I told them, flat out. I wasn’t gentle about it either. I was a real dick.

“But these guys were my first real friends, so I didn’t know how to act. I never really had many people around growing up, so I didn’t know how to handle friendship. Oikawa was like my handler, so when he left, I just got worse. I yelled at everyone all the time. They started to call me the King of the Court. I didn’t know what it meant at first. It wasn’t until we were playing in a tournament and I set a toss that no one hit. It wasn’t just a flub, though. They were all standing on the other side of the court, staring at me. They let that toss hit the ground on purpose. 

“That’s when I realized what King of the Court meant. It wasn’t a compliment because I was talented. It was a name for a tyrannical dictator with no friends. Kindaichi was the one who started it. He really hated me. That’s why he still uses it today. But it wasn’t just him. They all hated me. Everyone I’d thought of as a friend just turned on me. I was benched for the rest of the tournament.”

“And here I was thinking a couldn’t dislike Kindaichi anymore than I already did,” Hinata joked. Kageyama chuckled. 

Hinata stared at Kageyama’s side profile as he watched the sunset.

Whatever story he’d been expecting, it hadn’t been that. He hadn’t expected Kageyama to spill his life story out like that. 

“Sorry. I told you it was a long story, but you probably didn’t want to hear something like that. And I’m fine now, really.” Kageyama still wasn’t looking at him. 

“Don’t apologize. I’m really sorry that happened to you. But I’m glad you told me,” Hinata said softly. 

Kageyama turned his head to face Hinata at last. 

Hinata smiled at Kageyama. 

Kageyama smiled back. 

Hinata’s stomach twisted into knots. This wasn’t a smirk, or a forced polite smile. 

This was genuine. This was a smile for Hinata, and Hinata only. The orange tones of the sky warmed Kageyama’s blue eyes and the pink clouds behind him glowed softly with the reflected light of the setting sun. 

He looked beautiful. 

Hinata knew if he kept looking he might do something truly stupid, like kiss him. So he turned his head to look back at the sky. 

“You should smile more. It’s nice,” Hinata said quietly, not willing to look Kageyama in the eye incase he’d gone too far. 

Hinata tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he forced himself to remember that they were just friends. And it was going to stay that way. 

But that didn’t mean Hinata couldn’t enjoy the view.   
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my lovely oblivious boys that i am far too attached to, when will you open your eyes! 
> 
> i think i’ve finally figured out how i want to wrap this story up! it’s gonna get pretty angsty up in this bitch, so enjoy the fluffy kagehina while it lasts >:-) (that’s an evil face)
> 
> we hit a hundred kudos! wtf you guys, my ego is going to reach new heights and it’s all your fault for being to nice and awesome.
> 
> but in all seriousness, thank you all :) <3


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> let’s bake some cookies, shall we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just a chapter of me making my kagehina baking dreams come true. 
> 
> sorry it’s kinda short, i start school tomorrow and i have to be asleep earlier than usual.
> 
> enjoy!

“Oi, Kageyama. Should I buy this?” Kageyama turned to Hinata, who was holding a dark blue candle. 

“Why do you want a candle that’s… ‘late night ocean’ scented?” Kageyama asked, leaning in to read the label. “Perfect for late nights with your one and only-“ 

Hinata flailed around, slamming the candle back onto the shelf with excessive force. “I didn’t read it! I just liked the color!” 

Kageyama laughed, watching as Hinata’s face flushed red. Hinata glanced at him and then stomped further down the aisle of candles. 

Kageyama laughed quietly to himself before turning back to the candle in his hand. 

It was bright orange and scented like a tangerine. Somehow, and without Kageyama’s knowledge, orange had become his favorite color.

He’d started noticing it everywhere. The cereal box, the carpet in the lobby of the gym, the packaging of his instant noodles. Orange was taking over his life. 

Not that he was mad about it. 

He looked over again at the main source of orange in his life. Hinata was smelling a candle deeply before yelping and jumping backwards, nearly crashing into the shelves behind him. 

Kageyama bit his knuckle to keep the chuckle from escaping his lips. He watched as Hinata rubbed the back of his head ashamedly and glared daggers at the offending candle before putting it back on the shelf. 

Hinata glanced his way. “Kageyama, I’m warning you. That candle smelled  _ awful. _ ” 

Kageyama strode over and leaned down to read the label. “Chocolate fudge sugar cookies. That’s an awful scent for a candle. Is that even something you can make?”

“I bet I could make it,” Hinata announced, putting his hands on his hips. 

“No way. You’d probably catch the kitchen on fire, dumbass,” Kageyama replied. 

“What are you talking about?! I’m a master baker! I’ll show you!” Hinata stuck his chin in the air and puffed out his chest. 

Kageyama scoffed. “Master baker? You’ve probably made boxed cupcakes once and started calling yourself that.” 

“No, really! I am! Let me show you! Let me bake something for you!” Hinata looked up at Kageyama with eyes of pure innocence and enthusiasm. 

There was no way Kageyama could ever refuse something Hinata asked him. Especially when he looked at him like that. 

“But my apartment is so far…” Hinata drummed his fingers as he brainstormed. 

“We could… go to my apartment. Oikawa is at Iwaizumi’s so he wouldn’t bug us,” Kageyama said, somewhat hesitantly. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t want Hinata in his home, he was actually almost giddy at the thought of Hinata hanging out in his personal space. 

He was just nervous of what Hinata would think of how he lived. He’d grown up in a house where everything felt like a rental. His house had never looked lived in, just a place his family was staying for the time being. No posters on his walls, no photos of friends- not that he had many to take pictures of. 

But those habits had carried with him when he moved. His current room held little to no sign that Kageyama lived there, not like Hinata’s room. 

They had stopped by Hinata’s apartment a couple times during various explorations of the city. Hinata’s roommate, Kenma, didn’t seem to trust him. Plus, Kenma’s oddly feline eyes didn’t exactly warm him to Kageyama. 

His bedroom was an explosion of all things Hinata. Clothes were strewn across the bed and floor, posters and pictures were plastered across all four walls. There were glow in the dark stars and planets on the ceiling. 

“How long have you lived here?” Kageyama had asked, a little in awe. 

“Since school started, dummy! I told you I used to live in the countryside!” Hinata had said, punching Kageyama’s arm. 

Kageyama had been amazed that Hinata had managed to fill the room to the brim with his energy. But looking at him now, almost jumping for joy at the idea of baking cookies, it wasn’t hard to believe that Hinata was energy to spare. 

“Really? Do you even have the stuff to make cookies?” Hinata asked skeptically. 

“I dunno. What’s in cookies?” 

Hinata started walking, somehow trusting fully in the fact that Kageyama would follow him. 

Of course, he did, but that Hinata trusted in him so completely was always a little overwhelming. 

“Well, if I’m gonna attempt to make chocolate fudge sugar cookies, I’ll probably need regular ingredients, as well as the stuff to make it all chocolate-y and fudge-y.”

Kageyama dutifully followed behind him as Hinata blazed through the store. He was grabbing eggs and sugar and flour and chocolate and cream and Kageyama was pretty sure he saw a pack of candies fall into the basket, but he didn’t call Hinata out on it. 

At the checkout, Hinata was making conversation with the cashier. Kageyama just stared at him as he chatted with the young man about volleyball. Apparently, the cashier was a member of the neighborhood association, and had played in highschool. 

Kageyama had no idea how Hinata had learned this fact. It wasn’t something you’d regularly bring up in conversation. So how had Hinata somehow found the one topic that connected them?

Kageyama typically spent checkout fumbling through his wallet and avoiding eye contact with everyone. But Hinata was conversing so easily. It was truly astonishing. 

It had been a few weeks since they’d started hanging out together, but Hinata’s personable charisma would never cease to amaze Kageyama. 

As they left the store, they chatted easily about their homework, and Hinata’s job, and the crazy drills Kageyama had been doing at practice the day before. 

They were about two minutes from the store when Kageyama felt the first raindrops on the top of his head. 

He ignored it at first, passing it off as just old rain water from a drain or something like that. 

But then it started to pour.

Before Kageyama could even warn Hinata, the heavens had opened and buckets of rain were spilling onto them. 

Hinata shrieked loudly. Kageyama started to run in the direction of his apartment, but they soon reached a crowded portion of the street. 

Without thinking, he grabbed Hinata’s hand with his own to pull him through. 

Kageyama tried his very best not to think about how perfectly Hinata’s smaller hands fit into Kageyama’s, or how smooth his hands felt, or how the calluses on Hinata’s palms felt against his fingers. 

Keyword: tried. 

He failed. 

His mind was on full auto pilot as he dragged Hinata through the throng of bodies, every nerve in his body concentrating on the point of contact. 

Kageyama looked up at the street signs, blinking water out of his eyes. They were nearly there. 

He only thought to let go of Hinata’s hand when they reached the apartment complex, rain still pouring down around them. 

Slowly and regretfully, Kageyama slipped his hand out of Hinata’s grasp to hold the door open. 

Hinata walked inside and immediately shook his hair out like a wet dog. Kageyama stifled his laugh and instead opted to hit him upside the head. 

“God, I’m soaking wet!” Hinata complained when they were climbing the stairs. “At least none of the groceries are ruined!” He added cheerfully. 

Kageyama had completely forgotten about their cookie making ingredients. He was glad one of them had remembered. 

When they reached the door to his apartment, Kageyama fumbled with his keys. His hands were shaking with nervousness. Everything suddenly felt very real. 

After a couple attempts, he finally got the door to swing open. He grabbed a couple of towels from the bathroom to dry off with, using his own to get the water out of his soaking hair. 

Kageyama glanced over at Hinata, who had his towel wrapped around his shoulders like a blanket. 

That’s when Kageyama noticed that he was shivering. 

“Dumbass, you look freezing! Why didn’t you say something?”

Hinata jumped and looked at him. “Do you have something I can borrow? Like a hoodie or something?”

Kageyama grumbled and gestured for Hinata to follow him. He flung open his bedroom door and strode to his wardrobe, rifling through his clothes. 

He pulled out the smallest hoodie he could find. He tried not to think about the kind of person he had been when Kageyama had worn it. He tossed it to Hinata, who caught it easily and slid it on over his head. 

Kageyama’s heart was lodged in his throat. 

Hinata looked  _ tiny.  _

He was absolutely  _ swimming  _ in a hoodie that Kageyama could barely fit into anymore.

The sleeves fell to his fingers and the bottom hem fell to the bottom half of his thighs. The black color of the fabric only served to brighten Hinata’s hair and bring out his freckles. 

Kageyama swallowed thickly, not confident that he would be able to produce any sound while looking at Hinata in his hoodie. 

_ His  _ hoodie. Kageyama’s hoodie. One of the hoodies that held so many shitty, shitty memories. 

It was like Hinata had erased the saved data and started a new game. 

No longer would Kageyama look at this hoodie and think of his school days, he would only be able to see how thin Hinata’s neck look in the hood and how the tips of his fingers curled around the edges of the sleeves. 

“What are you staring at, Bakageyama?! I know I look stupid, don't make fun of me in your head! It’s not my fault that you’re stupidly tall…” Hinata crossed his arms and glared at the wall. 

Kageyama coughed. “You look… fine.” 

_ And the understatement of the year award goes to… _

Hinata didn’t notice how choked Kageyama sounded, or he at least didn’t say anything. Instead, he just looked around the room at the bare walls. 

“There’s, like, literally nothing in here, Kageyama! Where do you keep all your stuff?” Hinata asked, previous anger put aside. 

“I don’t have any stuff, I guess.”

“Waaah? Not even pictures of your friends?” Hinata spun around to stare at him. Kageyama shook his head. 

“Boo! That’s kinda sad, Kageyama. I’m sure there are at least pictures of the team that you can print out!

This was exactly what Kageyama hadn’t wanted to discuss. 

“Don’t you have cookies to make?” He asked, pointedly changing the subject. 

Hinata rolled with it, clapping his hands together and dashing back into the kitchen. Kageyama followed.

Hinata quickly got to work, separating the ingredients they’d bought into piles, sorting wet from dry and classic ingredients to the things Hinata was adding himself. 

“We can start by just making sugar cookies. Then, we can add in the chocolate fudge stuff later!” Hinata grinned. 

Kageyama just took a seat at the table, content to watch. 

Hinata hummed to himself as he measured out the dry ingredients. When he poured out the flour, it exploded into a cloud of white, Hinata spluttering and Kageyama howling with laughter.

They had both ended up on the floor, clutching their stomachs.

The rest of the ingredient measuring went by much faster, with no more incidents of flour explosions. 

He was about to crack an egg into the bowl when he suddenly looked up at Kageyama. 

“Is this your first time ever making cookies?” Hinata asked, tilting his head. 

Kageyama was taken aback. “Uh… Yeah. I guess.”

Hinata nodded. “I thought as much. Well, then. I am forcing you to help me! You can’t just sit there while I do all the work! It’s unfair.”

Kageyama stared at him. “What are you talking about, dumbass? How can it be unfair if you never asked for help?”

“I’m just joking around, Bakageyama!” Hinata laughed. “What I  _ meant,  _ is that because it’s your first time making cookies, I don’t want you to just sit there! I want you to be involved!” 

Kageyama grumbled, but got up from his seat and walked to the counter where Hinata was standing. 

He fumbled his way through the process, Hinata’s nimble fingers guiding his own as he struggled to crack the eggs on the side of the bowl. 

After watching Hinata crack one of them one handed, Kageyama forced him to do the rest, nearly entranced by the practiced way his hands moved. 

They worked slowly but surely through the rest of the steps, combing ingredients, mixing, and folding. Kageyama let Hinata handle most of the more intricate jobs, while he did the grunt labor, like stirring. 

They worked well as a team, chatting and bantering back and forth as they worked. 

When it came time to add the special ingredients, Hinata banished Kageyama back to the other side of the counter. 

“You’ve gotten your regular cookie making experience! Now this just needs the touch of a master!” 

Kageyama rolled his eyes, but he walked back to his seat without much of a fuss. 

As much fun as working with Hinata was, watching the way his hands danced around the counter was extremely fascinating. Kageyama found that he couldn’t quite take his eyes off of him. 

His only saving grace was that Hinata had gotten hot and taken off his hoodie, throwing it onto the couch. At least he wasn’t distracted by that anymore. 

Kageyama tried to look at the cookie tray when Hinata lifted it up to put into the oven, but was shooed away and yelled at for trying to ‘ruin the surprise’. 

“I need to be able to see your face as you realize what a masterpiece we’ve created!”

“Then how come you get to see it?” Kageyama asked. 

“Because I’m the master!” Hinata put his hands on his hips again. “Now, we have at least ten minutes to kill. What do you want to do?”

They ended up browsing through tv shows that they might want to watch while they ate the cookies, after deciding that it was still too rainy for Hinata to walk home in. 

The timer beeped in the middle of their argument about the best kinds of television, Hinata right in the middle of a very passionate and driven statement about romantic comedies.

“This isn’t over,” he said menacingly as they walked back over to the kitchen. 

The cookies were  _ delicious.  _ Somehow, every crazy ingredient Hinata had added worked perfectly. 

Kageyama would never admit it out loud, but Hinata was an exceptional baker. 

Besides, Hinata didn’t need him to say it. The absolutely humiliating involuntary moan he’d made when he’d first bitten into one of them pretty much spoke for itself. 

They ended up on either side of the couch, watching a stupid sitcom with no real plot, tossing pieces of popcorn into each other’s mouths, Kageyama’s experience as a setter being quite prominent. 

Hinata’s phone suddenly buzzed, interrupting the calm atmosphere that had fallen over them. 

“Hold on, this is my mom… I should take this.” Hinata rolled off of the couch and walked into the kitchen. 

Kageyama sat alone on the couch for a few minutes. He paused the tv show, content to just sit. 

When Hinata came back into the room, his mood had completely shifted. He’d gone from Cookie Master goofy Hinata, to a Hinata that dragged his feet on the ground and couldn’t quite look Kageyama in the eye. 

“Are you alright?” Kageyama asked tentatively. 

Hinata smiled, but it was obviously forced. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. I’m fine.”

Kageyama studied his face. Something about him had just… dulled somehow. 

“Kageyama, I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’ll see you around, ‘kay?”

Kageyama stared at him. “Are you sure?” He asked quietly, unsure as to what could have caused such a sudden and dramatic shift. 

“Yeah. Don’t worry about me, okay? Bye, ‘Yama.” 

The nickname twisted and pulled at Kageyama’s heart strings.

Hinata closed the door behind him. 

Kageyama stared at the place where Hinata had been and then at the cookies they’d made. 

Suddenly, he wasn’t in the mood to eat them. He left a note for Oikawa to help himself when he came home before he kicked off his jeans and crawled into his bed. 

He laid there, staring at nothing, unable to fall asleep. After a little convincing, he walked quietly back out to the living room, grabbed what he came for, and walked back to his bedroom. 

He fell asleep curled around the old hoodie, Hinata’s scent of citrus and honey curling through his nose. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is where the fun begins ;)  
> (and by fun, i mean pain)
> 
> mmm baker hinata makes my heart happy! and i adore all the fanart of hinata being tiny in kageyama’s clothes so i had to put it in here. 
> 
> i love you all thank you for reading!! have a wonderful day/night :-)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> let’s distract ourselves from that, shall we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of homophobia/homophobic parents 
> 
> some of you guys guessed correctly about what that phone call was about, so props to you! 
> 
> all i can say about this chapter is: pain. sorry! (but not really)

It was still raining when Hinata left Kageyama’s apartment. He seriously regretted not grabbing the hoodie he had been wearing earlier, since he was shivering intensely now. 

But if Kuroo was with Kenma, and he caught Hinata wearing Kageyama’s clothes? The teasing would literally never end.

Maybe it was for the best that he wasn’t wearing the hoodie. 

Either way, Hinata was freezing. But the shivering wasn’t all from the cold and the rain. 

He shoved his hands in his pants pockets to try and keep them from shaking too intensely. He tried his best to push the recent conversation from his mind as he walked numbly back to his apartment. 

Hinata could barely see the people surrounding him or the streets he was walking on through the thick haze in his mind. 

His thoughts were swimming and he was paralyzed to stop them. 

He didn’t realize he’d gotten back to his apartment until he was standing at the door, unmoving. 

He shakily fumbled his key out of his bag and unlocked the door. He gently pushed it open to see Kenma sitting alone on the couch. 

“Shouyou?” Kenma looked up. His eyes narrowed and he glanced at Hinata up and down, most likely taking in his crushed face and defeated posture. “What happened?” 

“It’s… It’s my dad. He’s coming to Tokyo.”

A pause. 

“Shit. Why?” Kenma asked. Hinata made his way to the armchair opposite the couch and sat with his head in his hands. 

“My mom said he wanted to… patch things up. Whatever that means,” Hinata muttered. 

Kenma was silent, ready to listen. 

Hinata hadn’t told Kenma about his father until a few weeks ago, when Natsu had been hurt. He’d come home from the hospital and Kenma had asked why he hadn’t just stayed the night with them. 

Hinata’s rushed excuse was easily seen through by Kenma’s cat-like eyes. 

But it had been a couple nights after that, when Kenma had awoken Hinata from a nightmare so bad that he’d begun to scream, that he told him the whole story. 

He’d never told anyone before. He always just said his father had left, not that his mother had forced him to leave because of how horribly awful he’d been to his own son. 

“My mom said that he really seems like he wants to try. But I just… I don’t know if he’ll ever really… understand. I can’t imagine him changing so drastically,” Hinata said after a moment. 

“When will he be here?” Was all Kenma asked. 

“Next week, I think. He has some conference or something. I’m not even the real reason he’s in Tokyo!”  Hinata exclaimed, all of his bottled anger from his walk home suddenly exploding. 

“I haven’t spoken to him in seven fucking years, and then he just gives me a week’s notice to drop by and say hello? It’s ridiculous!” Hinata yelled. He usually never swore this crassly, but he was beyond angry. 

“Did your mother give you a chance to refuse?” 

“Sort of. But I could tell she didn’t want me to. She was all passive about it, saying how wonderful it would be if we could be together again. How fucking stupid is that?” Hinata pressed his palms into his eyes. “Remember when we watched that movie? The one with the twins?”

“...What, Parent Trap?” Kenma asked skeptically. 

“Yeah! That’s the one! It’s like my mom is the twins, trying to get me and my dad back in the same room. But the problem is that no one in that movie is a fucking homophobic, piece of shit asshole!” Hinata said, his voice nearing a shout. 

He slumped back against the chair, his head falling back so it faced the ceiling. 

“Shouyou?” Kenma asked after a moment of stillness. 

Hinata lifted his head off of the chair in a wordless gesture to continue. 

“When your dad… if he comes here. Would you like me to be here?” Kenma asked. 

Hinata contemplated it. He knew Kenma wouldn’t be offended if he asked him to go. Kenma knew how hard this would be for him, and was genuinely offering his support in any way he could. Some people needed to fight their demons single-handedly. 

But there was no way in hell Hinata could face this alone. 

“If you could be here, I’d really appreciate it. He’s probably less likely to… do something if someone else is in the room.” Hinata sighed. “And I know this is probably obvious, but don’t bring Kuroo.”

Kenma nodded solemnly. 

Hinata was sure that if his father found out he was living in the same apartment as a gay man in a committed relationship, he would somehow find a way to blame Kenma. 

Hinata couldn’t let that happen. 

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to stay here. I know I said I’d appreciate it, but even if he has changed, things will probably still get pretty tense. I won’t blame you for leaving. No hard feelings,” Hinata said, turning his head back to stare at the ceiling. 

“I’ll be there. I care about you, Shouyou.” 

Hinata turned his head so fast it was almost comical. 

Kenma never expressed anything outright like this. He must’ve somehow known just how deep this whole situation was cutting into Hinata. Known that now was the time to express how he felt, not through actions or gestures, but spoken word. 

“Thank you, Kenma.” Hinata smiled softly. Kenma gave him a tiny smile in return. 

They sat like that for the rest of the night, Hinata watching tv and Kenma half-watching half-playing his video game. 

It was a calm night. A nice night. 

At least until Hinata fell asleep with his head against the back of the chair, his neck sure to be in pain when he woke up.

_ Hinata was standing at the end of a long, dark twisting hallway.  _

_ He recognized the wallpaper from the hall leading to his bedroom in his childhood home, but the once cheerful, flowered print had now been warped and distorted, almost to the point of being unrecognizable.  _

_ Hinata took a hesitant step forward, the dark hardwood floor beneath him creaking loudly.  _

_ Another step. And another. And another.  _

_ He made his way down the twisting hall, but as he walked, it began to grow dimmer, what little light there had been fading away to darkness.  _

_ After what felt like an eternity of walking, he finally saw a door at the end of the hall. It was wooden and the paint was chipping off. It was the door to his bedroom, but older and much more worn, as if thirty years in the future.  _

_ The doorknob rattled. Hinata stepped closer and placed a tentative hand on the brass surface, twisting gently.  _

_ The door opened and Hinata could see the thirteen year old version of himself, sitting on his bed, curled around his crying sister.  _

_ “Why is Daddy so angry, Nii-chan?” _

_ “It’s my fault, Natsu. I made him angry.”  _

_ Natsu stared up at the younger Hinata.  _

_ “What did you do, Nii-chan? Did you break a fancy vase again?” _

_ Younger Hinata laughed. “No, Natsu. Daddy is just upset because I like boys instead of girls. And he thinks that I…” Hinata watched his younger self struggle for the right words to explain. “He wishes that I liked girls instead.”  _

_ “He’s probably angry because boys are nasty and gross. Except for you, Nii-chan!” _

_ Younger Hinata smiled at his sister, but the tear tracks on his face were glaringly obvious.  _

_ Hinata remembered this conversation as if it had happened last week instead of seven years ago. He remembered the faint sounds of his parents yelling. He remembered the way he had sung every song he could think of to try and drown them out for Natsu.  _

_ He remembered the way he had finally let himself sob when she fell asleep.  _

_ Hinata couldn’t relive it again. He couldn’t.  _

_ He needed to leave.  _

_ He needed to wake up.  _

_ He needed to wake- _

  
  


Hinata’s eyes flew open and he jerked forward, nearly falling off of his chair. Jostled by the noise, Kenma started awake as well. 

“Sorry, Kenma. I woke you up, didn’t I,” Hinata said, rubbing the back of his neck apologetically. Lingering whispers of his dream clung to his thoughts. 

“Was it another nightmare, Shouyou?” Kenma asked tiredly. 

Hinata had been reluctant to admit that he was having nightmares at first. He was still a bit anxious about being so vulnerable about it now, to be honest. But he’d learned the hard way that bottling it up just made everything worse. 

Not that he was very good at sharing.

“Yeah. I’m sorry I woke you,” Hinata repeated, getting to his feet. He reached around for the remote to turn off the tv. 

“I’m going back to my bedroom. You should go back to yours.” Kenma turned to leave before he looked back at Hinata. 

“Promise me you’ll wake me up if you have another nightmare. I really don’t mind. You shouldn’t deal with it alone,” Kenma said, staring at Hinata intently. 

Hinata smiled. “I will,” he said gently. 

He was lying through his teeth. 

Hinata honestly, truly, genuinely felt  _ awful  _ about lying to Kenma. But Kenma was the kind of person who needed to be reminded to shower. He was the kind of person who thinks they can survive on two hours of sleep everyday for a week. 

Hinata wasn’t selfish enough to deprive him of more sleep. It would just cause more worry than was necessary. 

Hinata would be fine. He’d been having these kinds of nightmares for seven years. So when Kenma had learned about them and made him promise to wake him up if they happened, he’d agreed, knowing full well it was the only promise he couldn’t keep. 

Waking Kenma up for a stupid nightmare every night would just be ridiculous. 

Even if he did wake up drenched in sweat and shivering, a scream of frustration, grief, and pain building in his throat. 

When Hinata fell back asleep, in his own bed this time, he didn’t dream of long dark hallways or crying sisters. 

He dreamt of cookies and blue eyes and rain.

  
  


—————

  
  


When he woke the next morning. Hinata was groggy and disoriented. 

He blindly patted his hand around on the nightstand next to his head until he connected with his phone and checked the time.

9:37am. 

That was sleeping in pretty late for Hinata. He was usually up by eight at the latest. He’d never really mastered the whole ‘sleeping in’ thing.

He laid back in bed and stared at the ceiling until the taste in his mouth became unbearable, so he rolled out of bed to brush his teeth and go about the rest of his day. 

Ten minutes later, Hinata stared at the bowl of cereal in front of him, unseeing. 

He was too busy contemplating what he might want to do that day. 

Kenma had left him a message saying that he was going out with Kuroo all day, so that left Hinata with the apartment to himself. 

But he really didn’t feel like being alone at the moment. 

He didn’t have work today either, and he was pretty sure if he requested to come in, Suga would karate chop him again. 

He stared at his phone, building up his courage. 

**me :** _ do you want to hang today??? _

**kageyama >B-( : ** _ Are you okay? _

**me :** _ yeah. sorry if i worried you.  _

**me :** _ so do you want to hang?  _

**kageyama >B-( : ** _ Sure.  _

**kageyama >B-( : ** _ When? _

**me :** _ now? _

**kageyama >B-( : ** _ I’ll be over in ten.  _

  
  


Hinata sighed. This should be enough to distract him from his intrusive thoughts. It was Tuesday now, which meant he had at least another five days after today to worry and bite at his fingernails. 

He could spend today distracting himself. 

He walked over to his closet and grabbed his comfiest sweater. He didn’t have the mindset of ‘dress to impress’ right now. 

He pulled on his jeans just as a telltale knock came at his door. 

Heart beating just a bit faster than usual, Hinata skidded into the living room in his socks, pulling the door open. 

Kageyama looked hot. 

He was wearing a grey t-shirt that brought out his eyes and his hair looked a bit wet, as if from a shower. 

Thinking of Kageyama and showers made Hinata blush heavily, so he spun around to slip on his shoes. 

“Are you alright, Hinata? You left yesterday…” Kageyama said from behind him. 

Hinata’s mind struggled to find an excuse. “My mom called to tell me that… my dog… is sick,” he finished lamely. 

When he turned to face him, Kageyama obviously didn’t believe him, but didn’t look like he would press the matter. 

Hinata was grateful. 

He was not going to let his stupid father ruin one of the best friendships he’d ever had. 

Even if they weren’t destined to be together in the way that Hinata fantasized about, it felt as though they were meant to be in each other’s lives. 

Something just felt  _ right  _ when he was hanging out with Kageyama, like some switch was flipped in Hinata’s head and the world was suddenly in brighter colors. 

Hinata gestured out the door and Kageyama followed, waiting patiently while Hinata locked the door. 

“You can never be too careful,” Hinata warned playfully as he twisted the key. “You never know when Akiko-san from next door is gonna try to steal Kenma’s gaming set up.” Hinata winked. Kageyama chuckled softly, the sound sending shivers down Hinata’s spine. 

He purposefully ignored them and set off down the stairs. 

The pair walked down the street, the sun mercifully shining down on them, as if apologizing for raining so hard yesterday. 

Hinata glared at the incandescent ball of flaming gas as if it could respond. Kageyama noticed and elbowed him in the ribs. 

“You can’t just stare at the sun like that. You’ll go blind, dumbass,” Kageyama said. 

“Then you can be my eyes, ‘Yama! You can guide me everywhere I go and make sure I don’t run into telephone poles and stuff! Like my seeing eye dog!” Hinata exclaimed. 

Kageyama stopped walking. “I will not be your  _ dog!  _ Just for that, if you go blind, I’m gonna make sure you crash into something everytime we hang out.” 

Hinata pouted and jutted his bottom lip out. 

“Then you have to visit me in the hospital every day, because it’ll be your fault that I’ll be so horribly injured. You’ll have to bring me flowers and everything! And do you know what you’ll say?” Hinata pushed his hair so it was sitting flat on his forehead in an imitation of Kageyama’s dark bangs. He deepened his voice. 

“Oh, Hinata! I never treasured our time together! I should have bought you ice cream and not called you mean names and given you presents! I’m so terribly sorry!” Hinata said mockingly. 

Kageyama glared at him, but there was no real fire behind it. Hinata laughed. 

Eventually, they found themselves back in the Karasuno Coffee Shop. Suga took their orders, giving Hinata suggestive eyebrow raises when Kageyama’s back was turned. 

Hinata mouthed back at him, “I’ll tell you about it later,” before returning to Kageyama at their table with one black coffee and one sugary monstrosity. 

Hinata tried Kageyama’s bitter drink and choked, while Kageyama flat out refused to have a sip of Hinata’s concoction.

They descended into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Hinata broke it after a few moments of thought. 

“I lied to you.”

Kageyama’s head snapped up, but Hinata couldn’t look him in the eye. 

“I told you that I’m upset ‘cause my dog is sick, but that was a lie. I don’t even have a dog.”

Kageyama just stared at him. 

“I’m sorry for lying. I just didn’t know if you would stay around if you knew the real reason,” Hinata said quietly. He still refused to look at Kageyama, afraid he would lose his nerve if he did. 

“I’m not going anywhere. You could tell me that you’re on the run from the feds because you're wanted for murder or some shit and I wouldn’t go anywhere. You can tell me,” Kageyama said. 

Hinata knew that, deep down. He knew Kageyama was there to stay. But he’d needed to hear it. He’d needed the reassurance, the validation. 

“It’s my dad. I haven’t seen him for seven years. He left when I was thirteen, because…” Hinata paused. Did he really want to say this?

That was stupid. This was Kageyama. 

“Because I told him I was gay. He couldn’t handle that. So he left. And now he’s coming to Tokyo next week and he wants to see me. That’s what my mom told me on the phone yesterday. That’s why I was upset.” Hinata took a deep breath to steady his erratically beating heart. 

He finally looked up at Kageyama. 

Kageyama was staring at him with what looked like heartbreak in his eyes. 

Hinata couldn’t stand to see him that upset. It was gut wrenching. 

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m fine. Just kinda shaken up. But really, don’t worry about me. He’ll probably show up, see that I’m still not straight, get pissed off and then leave. It won’t be a big deal.”

Another lie. But Kageyama could probably tell that. 

“I think it’s a big deal. And so do you, I can tell.” Kageyama leaned down so their eyes were on the same level. 

“Thanks, I just… I just don’t want to think about him right now. I want to hang out with my friend and not think about my stupid asshole dad. Can we do that?”  Hinata asked hopefully. 

Kageyama nodded and stood up, grabbing the empty mugs from the table. 

“You have video games at your place, right?” He asked. Hinata nodded. 

“Great. That’s my favorite way to distract myself when I get stressed. Let’s go back to your apartment and then I can totally crush you!” Kageyama grinned evilly. 

Hinata protested as they made their way to the front door. He waved at Suga as they walked onto the fairly busy street. 

The whole way back to the apartment, Hinata and Kageyama argued about different video games and who would be better at which ones. 

Hinata compiled a mental list of all the games he would never play against Kageyama, for fear of a truly crushing defeat. 

As they walked up the stairs of the apartment complex, they had begun to discuss open world games. Kageyama thought Hinata’s playing style was stupid. 

“Idiot! How are you gonna improve if you don’t get any good materials? You won’t!” Kageyama argued. 

“You’re just mad cause the houses I build are probably  _ way  _ better than yours!” Hinata rebutted. Kageyama glared at him. Hinata laughed gleefully as he swung the door open. 

Then stopped in his tracks. 

Sitting at his kitchen table looking as angry as ever, was Hinata’s father, whom he hadn’t laid eyes on in seven years. 

One thought was playing through Hinata’s mind. 

_ Fuck.  _

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m killing it with these cliffhangers lately you guys what can i say 
> 
> we’re nearing the endgame now! only a few more chapters to go! kinda makes me sad lowkey :-(
> 
> thank you for the kudos and the kind comments and the reading in general! love you all, and i hope i’m not causing you too much pain with this angst and these cliff hangers ;)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the confrontation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING(s): homophobia/homophobic parents, child abuse (homophobic slurs, a parent verbally abuses and hits their child)
> 
> okay just saying: i cried while writing this, not gonna lie. it just kinda hit me right in the heart. i just love my volleyball idiots so much :((((
> 
> as in chapter nine, this symbol ————— indicates a switch in POV

Hinata felt Kageyama slam into his back as he stopped abruptly. 

He was in shock, he could barely move, barely think. 

His father, whom he hadn’t seen, spoken to, or made contact with in seven years was just sitting at his kitchen table. 

A week early. 

And Kageyama was right behind him. 

His breath was catching in his throat and his muscles were frozen in place. He was a statue of horror and fear. 

Why was he here?

How did he get in?

Did Kageyama understand who he was?

How could Hinata get Kageyama out of the door?

His mind started to whirl a hundred miles an hour, working overtime to create a plan to get out of this shithole of a situation. 

Step One: Get Kageyama out of there. 

Step Two: Find out why and how his father was in his apartment. 

Step Three: 

Okay, so Hinata didn’t have a step three. But he had two steps, and that was good enough for now. 

“Shouyou?” His father asked, no hint of gentleness in his voice. 

“Dad?” Hinata croaked out, his voice nearly a whisper. 

He tried to subtly push Kageyama out the door, but he wasn’t budging. He pushed harder, even trying to close the door, all the while never looking away from his father. 

“Shouyou, who is this? Is this your friend?”

Hinata’s father looked at Kageyama shrewdly, as if sizing him up. 

Hinata couldn’t handle this. He wasn’t equipped to deal with this. Kageyama couldn’t see this. Hinata had to get him out. 

“Kageyama, you can leave now.” Hinata tried to convey the real meaning behind his words with his as he turned around. 

Kageyama continued staring at Hinata’s father. 

“What are you talking about, Shouyou? Don’t be embarrassed of your old man,” his father said menacingly. “I’m Hinata Hisahito. And you’re Kageyama, I presume?” 

Hinata pressed a hand on Kageyama’s chest. “Please. Get out of here.” He couldn’t let him see this. 

He would be disgusted. He would leave and never want to see Hinata again. 

“Why should he leave, Shouyou? Unless…” He trailed off, walking forward slowly. Hinata took a shaky step backwards, close to losing his balance. 

This was bad. This was so bad. If the tables turned onto Kageyama, he really would leave forever. No one would want to stick around if they saw what a mess Hinata’s personal life truly was. 

So why wouldn’t he just get out the door? Hinata nudged Kageyama’s foot with his own, trying to point him out into the hall. This wasn’t Kageyama’s fight. 

Even if that would mean Hinata would have to be alone with his father. 

“How did you get in my apartment?” Hinata asked, trying desperately to get the focus off of Kageyama. 

If he was refusing to leave, the best thing he could do was be ignored. 

“Your mother has a key. You gave it to her, right?” 

Hinata’s thoughts were bitter with betrayal. 

“She… she gave you a key to my home?” Hinata asked quietly. 

Hinata’s father laughed, deep and terrifying. 

“No, no. It was labeled and hanging on the wall in the mud room. I just took it. I wanted to surprise my son! Is that so hard to believe?” 

“You haven’t spoken to me in _seven years._ Yeah, it’s a little hard to believe,” Hinata said bitterly. 

“Don’t talk back to your father, Shouyou. You should respect me more. That was always your problem. Well, that and your… mental issues.” Hinata’s father sighed and turned away. 

Hinata’s heart sank. Of course. He hadn’t shifted his views. He wasn’t going to suddenly accept Hinata, something he hadn’t done for seven years. 

“Mom told me you changed. She said… She said you were different.” Hinata could hear his voice crack as he spoke, but he didn’t care enough to try and keep it level. 

“I am different, Shouyou,” he said, his voice dripping his menace. “But I was hoping that you would’ve changed as well. I can see by your friend here that that’s not the case. You’re still a faggot.”

Hinata felt his stomach drop to the floor. Sure, he’d heard his father throw that word around before. It was part of why he’d left. 

But to use it so casually?

“Oh, close your mouth, Shouyou. Stop gaping at me like a fish. It’s just a word. I never knew why it bothered you so much.” He peered closer. “And now I finally come see you and you’re hanging out with a faggot friend. Disgusting.”

Hinata blinked. 

He’d never get _used_ to being insulted by his father, but at least he’d prepared himself for it. 

But to have it directed at Kageyama?

That was where Hinata drew the line. 

“Don’t say that about him. He’s- Kageyama isn’t gay. He’s not. He’s dating… his team manager. Her name is Kiyoko. She’s super nice,” Hinata stammered. 

Kiyoko _was_ super nice. And pretty and kind and gentle. And not at all interested in any of the boys on the volleyball team. 

“Oh, do shut your mouth, Shouyou. I can tell when you’re lying. I’m your father after all. Besides,” his father raised an eyebrow and stared at Kageyama. “any person in their right mind wouldn’t hang around someone like you. You’d probably try to convert them.”

Hinata’s father turned his nose up. Hinata heard a dull ringing in his ears. 

“I don’t- What are you even _saying?_ Can you hear yourself? I don’t _convert_ people! This isn’t a choice!” Hinata spluttered, but his father wasn’t so easily swayed. 

“Do not talk back to me, Shouyou! I come here to offer you an olive branch, and you turn it back in my face? Perhaps if you weren’t so damaged, you wouldn’t be so disrespectful,” Hinata’s father scoffed. 

_Damaged._

_Diseased._

_Disgusting._

Hinata had heard it all before from his father, and then some. But this time was different. This was in front of Kageyama, who still hadn’t moved an inch. 

“You can do whatever you want, just, please. Let Kageyama go home. He doesn’t need to see this,” Hinata begged. 

“Why? Are you afraid of him finding out how repulsive you can be?” 

Hinata felt tears begin to well in his eyes, but he couldn’t cry. Not right now. He couldn’t let himself look weak. 

“Just let him leave. Please,” Hinata said quietly. 

Kageyama still hadn’t said a word. 

Hinata’s father looked over Hinata’s shoulder at the dark haired boy standing behind him. 

“I’m gonna tell you something, Kageyama. You seem like a fine young man. If my son has done something to you, or made you do… things… with him,” he paused to swallow disgustedly. “Just know that it isn’t your fault. You can still be redeemed. Don’t let his disease drag you down.”

Hinata’s head was spinning. He needed to get some fresh air, or sit down, or-

“Don’t say things like that to him.” 

—————

Kageyama had been frozen stiff for the last couple of minutes. He’d watching, unblinking as Hinata’s father had absolutely slandered his own son. 

He called his own child repulsive. 

There was one thing Kageyama knew for sure. 

There was no way in hell he would ever leave Hinata alone with this man. 

So no matter how much Hinata pushed and shoved and hinted, Kageyama wasn’t going anywhere. He was staying right there. 

He was too shocked by the sudden change of events to really process what was happening. He just stood there, unmoving, watching everything unfold in front of him. 

It wasn’t until his father, a tall, nasty looking man with an ugly mustache and greasy, thin hair, started to speak to him. 

“I’m gonna tell you something, Kageyama. You seem like a fine young man. If my son has done something to you, or made you do… things… with him, just know that it isn’t your fault. You can still be redeemed. Don’t let his disease drag you down.”

_Done things to him?_

_You can be redeemed?_

_His disease?_

It wasn’t the words that caused him to snap. It was Hinata’s face. A face that said he’d heard all of this before. This wasn’t something new. 

Something in Kageyama’s heart had shattered for him in that moment. 

When he’d come out, Kageyama’s parents hadn't really cared. They were just happy that he liked something other than volleyball, but they didn’t see each other enough for it to really matter. 

When Hinata had confessed about his father in the cafe, Kageyama could never of guessed that it would be this bad. 

After all, how could someone come out of that experience and still be the ray of sunshine that is Hinata Shouyou?

“Don’t say things like that to him.” 

The words were out of his mouth before he even recognized that he was saying them. 

“Ah, so you think you can talk back to me too, son? Don’t try to defend him. My son is mentally ill, it’s a losing battle. Just do yourself a favor and don’t let him poison your mind anymore. You’re a nice young man, I’m sure you’ll find a lovely woman to make you happy someday.”

Kageyama stared at him. 

This man was crazy. 

“Just because Shouyou is too far gone, doesn’t mean you can’t get help.” His father said. 

Kageyama was in awe of how stupid a person could be. And he said as much. 

“You don't deserve to be his father,” Kageyama said slowly. 

Hinata looked up at him with wide eyes. Kageyama could see the tears in them. That only served to kindle the fire in his heart and words. 

“Hinata is one of the best people I’ve ever known. And if you’re too stupid to see that, if you’re too blinded by your idiotic bigotry to notice what a good person he is, then that is on you. So don’t take it out on Hinata. He’s never done anything to you,” Kageyama spat out. 

“Never done anything to me?” He scoffed. “I used to have a son. I used to have a handsome young man who would grow up and settle down with a wife and kids and live a normal life. Shouyou took that from me. He let himself become diseased and damaged. He let himself become revolting.” Hinata's father glared daggers at the two boys in front of him. 

Kageyama opened his mouth to deliver a rebuttal, but Hinata beat him to it. 

“That kid never existed,” he said quietly. 

Hinata’s father glared at him intently. “What did you just say to me, Shouyou?” 

Hinata’s repeated himself, louder this time. “He never existed! You made him up! I was never going to get married and have a wife and kids! I was never going to be your perfect child! I never told you because I was _afraid of you_. Do you know how awful that was? To constantly hear you talk about how ‘I shouldn’t walk home alone because the faggots up the road would try and touch me?’ Do you understand how that felt?”

Kageyama stared at Hinata. He was breathing heavily, but he wasn’t finished. 

“I’ve had nightmares about you for the last seven years, did you know that? I’ve woken my roommate up because I scream in my sleep, because the last time I saw my own father, he was telling me that I was an abomination. I cried myself to sleep every night for a year after you left, trying to think of how I could _fix_ myself, just so you would come home. 

“But you never did! You left me when I was thirteen years old because I don’t like _girls?_ How fucking stupid is that? I used to pray to God that you would come home and love me again. But you never came home. You let me believe that I was disgusting and that no one would love me. 

“So where were you? Did you ever think about your son that you left behind? The one who loved you every day, even after you spat in his face? Where did you go, Dad?” Tears began to stream down Hinata’s face, but he showed no signs of slowing. Kageyama wasn’t sure he realized he was crying.

“You disappeared! But you didn’t just leave me. Mom had to raise us all on her own. Natsu hasn’t had a dad since she was fucking _seven._ How could you do that to her? What did she do to you? Love her only brother? That’s all it took for you to stop caring about her, too? For you to abandon all of us?

“Where were my birthday cards? Where were my homework tips? Where was my _dad?_ You didn’t have to be parent of the year, but you could have fucking _tried._ You could have _been there._ But you’re a coward. You’re afraid of the fact that I don’t care about you anymore. You’re afraid of the fact that I’m not groveling at your feet right now. You’re just a coward who can’t face his own insecurities so you took them out on a thirteen year old.“

Hinata’s voice suddenly quieted. “Do you remember when I was ten, and you promised me that you would take me down to the lake when I turned fifteen to go fishing? Do you remember that? You probably don’t.” He scoffed. “Well I went anyways. I sat alone on the dock for hours. That’s how I spent my birthday. Crying for some piece of shit dad who thinks I’m repulsive because of something I have no control over. You really are a cowardly, full of shit asshole.” 

Hinata’s cheeks were flushed and wet with tears. His hands were shaking. 

“How _dare_ you speak to me that way,” His father said, deadly quiet. His eyes were on fire. He began slowly stalking towards Hinata. 

Something about the scene reminded Kageyama of a lion stalking a gazelle on the savannah. 

This wasn’t parental. This was predatory.

Before Kageyama could react, his father’s hand was connecting with Hinata’s cheek with a sickening crack. 

Hinata fell to his knees, gasping and clutching his face. 

Kageyama stared in disbelief. 

He was barely thinking when he threw the punch. 

It just happened. 

One second he was staring at Hinata, crumpled on the floor for simply speaking his mind, and the next his fist was swinging towards the older man’s face. 

Kageyama’s fist stung like a bitch, but he wasn’t giving up. He watched with grim satisfaction as the man stumbled back and winced, but that feeling waned as he regained his balance and straightened again. 

The look in his eye was one of no forgiveness. Kageyama tensed and braced for impact. 

None came. 

He opened his eyes to see Hinata standing in front of him, his eyes squeezed shut and his hands protecting his face. 

  
  


————— 

  
  


Hinata’s thoughts weren’t very coherent at the moment. 

He had just said everything he’d silently seethed about for the past seven years without any filter. 

It was kind of terrifying. And exhilarating. He knew that if Kageyama hadn’t defended him, he wouldn’t have had the courage to do it. 

But he had. 

So he did. 

Then he was on the floor and his cheek was stinging and his ear was ringing and there was blood in his mouth. 

He looked up to see Kageyama punch Hinata’s father in the face. 

When he saw his father standing up and looking at Kageyama determinedly, Hinata didn’t think, he just jumped up and threw himself between them. 

He wasn’t going to let Kageyama get hurt. 

He closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable hit. 

It never came. 

Slowly, he opened his eyes. 

His father was staring at him, revulsion extremely evident in his eyes. 

“You disgust me.” 

That was all his father said. 

Those were the same last words he’d said at the train station when Hinata was thirteen. 

“Get out,” Hinata responded. He made sure to look his father when he said it. 

“Get out of my house,” he repeated. ”Leave the key. Don’t contact me again. I never want to see your face as long as I live. Get out.” 

Hinata’s father stared at him, then he took a deep breath and spat on Hinata’s shoe. 

Without another word, he was walking out, throwing the keys behind his back, and slamming the door loud enough to rattle the cabinets. 

Hinata just stood there. For the second time since entering his apartment, he was completely and utterly frozen. 

He didn’t even recognize that Kageyama was moving until he felt a tug on his foot. He looked down to see Kageyama pulling off his shoes, trying his best to avoid the glob of spit. 

Hinata closed his eyes, only opening them when Kageyama started to pull him down the hall. 

They sat at the edge of Hinata’s bed, not quite touching. 

After a few moments of silence, Hinata spoke softly. 

“I’m sorry you had to see that.”

Kageyama didn’t respond for a moment. 

“Shut up, dumbass.” Hinata looked at him, not having the energy to be angry. “What the hell are you apologizing for?”

“He was… he was so rude to you. He called you a… He almost _hit_ you, Kageyama. You shouldn't've had to deal with that, and that’s why I’m sorry. You wouldn’t have had to punch anyone if not for me.”

Hinata stared at his hands, clenched into fists in his lap. He watched the tears that fell from his eyes, but didn’t fully register that he was crying. 

“I’m-“ his voice broke. “I’m sorry, Kageyama.” 

And then he broke down. His latent tears turned into shuddering sobs and he curled into himself, shaking so hard he could barely breathe. 

He faintly noticed large arms wrapping around him. They held him tightly and rubbed slow circles on his back. 

It was too much. Hinata leaned over and continued sobbing into Kageyama’s broad chest, his arms wrapping around his muscular torso for support. 

He felt a hand start running through his hair gently, calmingly. 

Hinata fell asleep like that, curled onto Kageyama’s chest, one of Kageyama’s hands rubbing his back, the other running through his fluffy hair. 

That night, he didn’t dream of his father. 

In fact, Hinata didn’t dream at all. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow. sorry for the emotion dump. i never expected that this story would get so deep or angsty i just kinda went with it. 
> 
> and agh! one more chapter in the story proper, but i’m most definitely gonna do some type of epilogue kind of thing that i’m excited for. 
> 
> thank you all for reading :-)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what you’ve all been waiting for...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of homophobia, homophobic slurs, and child abuse 
> 
> it’s here! it’s here! it’s finally here! 
> 
> as per usual,  
> —————  
> indicates a switch in POV

Kageyama woke to an alarm ringing. It was muffled, since the phone was still in his jeans pocket. He quickly turned it off and sighed in relief when the boy in his arms didn’t stir. 

He had to get to morning practice, but he was reluctant to leave. 

Last night, after Hinata had fallen sleep, Kageyama hadn’t wanted to let him go. It was purely selfish, he knew that. But he wanted just one night with this boy made of sunshine. 

So he’d shifted until his back was against the wall and pulled Hinata tighter to his chest. He stayed like that until he fell asleep. 

It was five thirty in the morning now. He had to be at practice by seven at the latest. He typically liked to get there a half hour early, but that would be a stretch now. 

As gently as he could, Kageyama lifted Hinata from his lap, trying his best to pry the iron grip of his arms from Kageyama’s waist. The boy was surprisingly strong. 

With a feather light brush of lips on Hinata’s hairline, Kageyama tucked him into his covers. He sighed, not wanting to leave. 

But he had to. Hopefully Hinata would be alright when he woke up. 

He thought suddenly of Hinata calling Kageyama his ‘guardian angel’. He scoffed. One look at the boy in the bed, his face relaxed in sleep, orange hair fanning out across the pillow and mouth slightly parted, and you’d know who the angel truly was. 

Kageyama crept through the hall to the living room, being careful not to creak the floorboards as he passed by Kenma’s room. 

It was unnecessary, however, since Kenma was sitting on the couch in the living room, playing his switch. 

Kenma’s feline eyes locked onto Kageyama the second he stepped into the room. They narrowed. 

“I- It’s not what it looks like,” Kageyama stuttered. 

Yeah, he’d spent the night with Hinata, but not like _that._

“Then what is it.” It was a statement, not a question. Kenma wasn’t requesting an answer, he was demanding one. 

“Hinata’s dad was here yesterday. He took a key from his mom’s house and was just waiting here for him.” The widening of Kenma’s eyes proved that he knew exactly what that meant. 

Kageyama continued. “It was bad. Like, really bad. He’s awful. He said all these things about Hinata being diseased and mentally ill and repulsive, so eventually Hinata yelled at him and his dad slapped him. So I punched the old man in the face. Then he spit on Hinata’s shoes and left. I couldn’t- I couldn’t leave him alone…” Kageyama faltered. 

He couldn’t have left last night, he couldn’t have abandoned Hinata when he needed somebody, anybody, to be there for him. 

Kenma didn’t say anything, he just nodded. It was the kindest he’d ever been to Kageyama. 

“Why are you even awake so early?” Kageyama asked, trying to regain his composure. 

“I haven’t gone to sleep yet,” Kenma deadpanned. 

Kageyama bit back a laugh. Kenma was every bit as nocturnal as Hinata had described. 

“Ah. I see. Well, when he wakes up, will you tell him I had to go to morning practice?” Kageyama asked. 

“Sure,” Kenma said, before turning back to his game. He wasn’t playing it, though. His fingers were still and he just stared blankly at the flashing screen. 

Kageyama took it as a sign to leave and quietly made his way to the front door. 

He was a few feet away when he paused, staring at the floor in front of him. 

Three drops of blood. They were dark red and long since dried. Kageyama could practically see Hinata kneeling above them on the floor, clutching his cheek. 

He shuddered and looked to the kitchen to his right. He grabbed a paper towel and wetted it, kneeling down and scrubbing at the crimson drops. 

Kageyama felt sick looking at the stained paper towel when he finished. He quickly threw it away and pulled the front door shut behind him. 

It was still dark when he left the apartment building. The streets were washed with the glow from the streetlights. Kageyama looked up to try and find Hinata’s window. It was presumably the only one with the lights on.

Hinata was in good hands. As reserved and sometimes scary as Kenma was, Kageyama knew that he cared deeply about Hinata. It was written all over his face when Kageyama had told him about yesterday’s events. 

With a deep breath, Kageyama started his walk home through the chilly air. 

He felt a little gross in the same clothes he had worn the day before. He’d slept in his jeans, which hadn’t been at all comfortable, and his shirt smelled a little bit stale. He tried to ignore it while he walked. 

He got home by 6:15, which gave him just enough time to sneak past a sleeping Oikawa and change into his practice clothes. 

He ran at a jog to the university, letting that serve as the first half of his warm up. He showed up at 6:45, which was still fifteen minutes early, but it was practically hours late for Kageyama. 

The handful of people who were already there looked at him inquisitively, but he ignored them. He wasn’t about to go spilling all of Hinata’s secrets. 

A gut feeling told him Hinata wouldn’t appreciate him spreading the story to a bunch of guys he barely knew. 

Kageyama realized with a start that he’d known Hinata just as long as the rest of the team. And even then, they hadn’t really spoken until that night at the bar when Hinata had been hit on. 

“Are you okay, Kageyama?” He straightened and turned to see Tanaka staring at him. “You have this weird look on your face and you’ve been like halfway between stretches for like… two minutes.” 

“I just… didn’t sleep well last night. That’s all. Sorry.” Kageyama turned his face so Tanaka wouldn’t be able to see through him so easily. 

“Oh. Uh, alright. Well, we’re here for you, you know? The whole team,” Tanaka said, sounding gentler than he ever did. 

“You sound like an old lady, Tanaka,” Kageyama joked. 

Tanaka bared his teeth. “What did you say to me, punk?” Kageyama chuckled internally. There was the regular Tanaka. 

“Nothing, nothing. Just go… flirt with Kiyoko or something,” Kageyama said dismissively, waving Tanaka away. He immediately perked up and downright skipped over to their team manager. 

_Kageyama’s not gay. He’s not! He’s dating his team’s manager, Kiyoko!_

Hinata’s voice rang through his ears as he stared at Tanaka’s attempts at flattery. 

He had been so adamant to protect him. He’d almost taken a punch for him. And then he’d been _sorry._

Kageyama clenched his fists. He hadn’t said anything to his face, instinctively knowing that it was better if he just let Hinata cling to him and not try to rebuke his words. 

But it made his blood boil. 

Hinata was sorry, simply because Kageyama had witnessed it? Because Hinata’s father had said a couple bigoted comments to him? 

To be honest, Kageyama had enjoyed punching that shithole more than he’d like to admit. 

But he had stayed for a reason. He knew that if he’d left like Hinata wanted him to, things could have gone much, much worse. 

He didn’t even let himself consider the possibilities. Thinking of Hinata in any kind of harmful situation was almost physically painful. 

“Yo, Kageyama. Is your hand okay?” Noya was standing beside him out of the blue. 

“What?” Kageyama asked, extremely confused. He lifted his hand to his face. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 

“Other hand, dummy,” Noya laughed. 

Oh. 

Kageyama stared at the split skin on his knuckles. He hadn’t even realized that he’d gotten hurt. Everything had happened so fast after he’d thrown his punch that all he’d had time to do was recognize the pain in his hand before he moved on. 

“So, what happened? Did you get in a fight or something?!” Noya sounded extremely excited about that. 

“I… Uh… I…” Kageyama stuttered. He couldn’t think of an excuse, not even a shitty one. 

“Oh, my god! You totally did! My precious underclassman got into a fight! Who with? When? Did you win? Your face seems okay. Did you-“ 

“Nishinoya. Can I speak to Kageyama?” They both whirled around to see Coach Ukai standing with his arms folded. Noya gave Kageyama a wide eyed stare and a thumbs up before he dashed off. 

“Kageyama. I need you to know that you can be honest with me. Did you get into a fight?” Coach Ukai said, looking pointedly at his scabbed knuckles. 

“Can we…” Kageyama glanced at Noya and Tanaka, who were doing a very poor job of pretending they weren’t listening. “Can we talk privately?” 

Ukai tilted his head curiously, but nodded and lead Kageyama to a corner of the gym. 

“Well?” Ukai prompted after a moment. 

“Okay, uh… Well, it’s kind of a long story. It wasn’t a real fight, it’s just… I was with…” Kageyama needed to keep Hinata out of the story, if at all possible. “A friend. And his dad showed up. His dad’s a real shitty guy. He hadn’t seen him in years. So he shows up and starts calling him a… he calls him a faggot. And all this other really shitty stuff. Then he slaps my friend. And I just- I got so mad. I couldn’t stop myself. So I punched him in the face. And then he left.” 

Ukai stared blankly at Kageyama. 

Perhaps he hadn’t expected an honest answer, or perhaps he’d expected Kageyama to have beaten up a middle schooler or something. 

Either way he surely hadn’t expected that. 

“Ah. I see. I… do you want me to tell anyone about it?” 

Kageyama shook his hands out in front of him. “Please don’t. I don’t think my friend really wants to tell anyone. Please.” 

Ukai nodded slowly. “Alright. Well, come talk to me if you want me to do something. I can help press charges.” He started to walk away, but then turned back with a terrifying grin on his face. “Or I could beat the guy’s ass if you wanted me to.”

He was walking away before Kageyama had a chance to respond. 

The rest of practice passed in a blur. Ukai let their backup setter play in the scrimmage, since he didn’t want Kageyama to reopen or worsen his split knuckles. 

So Kageyama was stuck on the sidelines, bouncing his legs and drumming his fingers. His eyes were on the game, but his mind was elsewhere. 

Somehow, the entire encounter between Hinata and his father had been recorded in Kageyama’s memory word for word, so whenever he was stationary, it just played over and over, like a broken record. 

On what must have been the fifth time through, Kageyama couldn’t take it anymore and stormed off to bump a volleyball with himself. After promising Ukai that he would only use his forearms, he let him go. 

He spent the rest of the practice like that, alone in the corner of the gym, but distracted. 

His was barely looking where he was going as he walked out of the gym. He strode blindly through the lobby, trying to figure out what to do. 

Should he go to Hinata’s apartment? He should make sure that he was alright. But if he wasn’t awake yet, it would be extremely awkward to face Kenma again. 

He still hadn’t made up his mind as he pushed open the door and walked, without noticing, into the pouring rain. 

He’d made it all but two steps when he heard his name being called from down the street. 

“Kageyama!”

He knew that voice. 

He turned to see an attractive young man with bright orange hair sprinting towards him as fast as he could. 

—————

  
  


When Hinata woke up, he was alone in his bed. 

He remembered yesterday. 

He remembered last night. 

He remembered his father, and Kageyama. 

He remembered falling asleep in Kageyama’s arms. 

But now he was alone. 

He took a deep, steadying breath and pushed back the covers before swinging his feet onto the floor. He glanced at the clock. 7:30am. 

He sighed and walked out into the kitchen, stopping for a second to stare at the chair his father had been sitting in less than twenty four hours ago. 

It was surreal. 

He mindlessly poured cereal, not noticing when a couple pieces fell to the floor. He sat as far away from that chair as possible when he went to eat. 

But it was still too close. 

When Kenma came out of his room with a yawn, he found Hinata sitting on the kitchen counter with his bowl of cereal. 

“Shouyou. Kageyama told me what happened.”

Hinata’s eyes widened. “How? When?”

“When he left. He told me to tell you that he had to go to morning practice. Are you alright?” Kenma stared at him. 

“Yeah… Well, no. But I will be. He’s the same as he always was, I guess. It wasn’t really anything new. I just need time. To process, and everything. But I’m alright. Mostly ‘cause Kageyama was there. I don’t even want to think about…” 

About what could’ve happened. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not really,” Hinata said honestly. Kenma wasn’t the greatest at empathy. And he didnt want to relive it so soon. 

“He really cares about you,” Kenma said quietly. 

Hinata thought he misheard him at first. 

“Huh?”

“Kageyama. I could tell that he didn’t want to leave. And when he was telling me what happened, I could see it. He cares about you, Shouyou. A lot.” 

Hinata flushed. 

“I know from Kuroo that their morning practice ends at eight thirty. You should go.”

“I- what?” 

Hinata stared at Kenma, who didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to. It was written in his eyes. 

_Tell him how you feel._

Kenma was right. Kageyama deserved to know. He had protected Hinata yesterday, when he didn’t have to. Even if he didn’t reciprocate, he deserved to know. 

Hinata washed his bowl and threw on his lucky t-shirt. It had an outline of a spiker jumping for a ball. Hinata had bought it at the first volleyball game he’d ever been to. 

With a ’good luck’ from Kenma, Hinata was out the door. 

It was 8:20 now. If Hinata walked fast, he could easily make it to the end of practice, with time to spare, even. 

His stomach was a writhing, squirming ball of nerves. His hands shook in his pockets. 

Was he really about to do this? 

_Yes. I am. I have to._

The same back and forth continued throughout his walk. He checked his phone. 8:28. Cutting it close. 

Then he felt the rain start dropping on the back of his neck. 

_No, no, no. Not today!_

Yes, today. 

The rain started to come down harder, hammering at the top of his head and dripping down his face. 

He started to run, thankfully not skidding on the wet concrete below him. 

The gym was finally in sight. 

And currently exiting it’s doors was a sweaty looking, extremely attractive setter. 

“Kageyama!” Hinata yelled, trying desperately to be heard over the pouring rain. 

Kageyama turned, startled. It took him a second to find Hinata, who had begun to sprint. 

He skidded to a stop right in front of Kageyama. He was close enough that Hinata could lean forward and kiss him if he wanted to. 

_Stop getting ahead of yourself!_

“Kageyama, I have to tell you something.”

_Holy shit, I’m really about to do this._

Maybe it was the rain pouring around them, maybe it was just how they were, but Hinata felt like the two of them were alone in the universe. 

“I like you. A lot. I really do. More than friends should like each other. Like, when I see you, my heart goes _bwah!”_

Kageyama was staring at him, shocked. Hinata took that as a sign to keep going. 

“I just felt like you deserved to know, ‘cause you were so awesome yesterday and I think that if you stand up for someone like that, you deserve to know exactly how cool they think you are. 

“And I think you’re cool. Super cool! And talented, and strong, and brave, and not to mention _really_ hot! I just- I like you a lot. And I understand that you don’t feel the same way-“ 

“Hinata-“ Kageyama tried to interrupt. 

“No, you don’t have to say anything, I know I’m totally springing this on you and you probably think it’s weird, but I can’t help it!”

“Hinata-“ Kageyama tried again. 

“I’m not done! And all I’m asking is if we can please still be friends, I promise I won’t be weird to you, because I also like you as a friend and I don’t want to lose you.” Hinata inhaled deeply. 

_I can’t believe I actually did that._

“Alright. You can say something now.”

“Well-“ Hinata cut Kageyama off again. He was starting to look angry. 

“Just, please don’t be mean when you break up with me! Wait, that sounds so weird, we aren’t dating-“ 

Kageyama clasped a hand over Hinata’s overactive mouth. 

“Dumbass, will you _please_ let me say something?”

Hinata nodded. 

“Okay. Hinata, I have liked you since the moment I saw you in the coffee shop.”

Hinata’s heart stopped beating. 

“And if I had been less of an asshole and seen you when I ran into you after that game, I would’ve liked you then. The only reason I didn’t try to kiss you right then and there in the cafe was because you hated me. For good reason. I’m an asshole, if you haven’t noticed. I’m angry all the time and I drink my coffee black and I suck at school. And you- you’re perfect. You’re this ray of sunshine who can somehow stand to be around me. You are… Hinata, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” 

Hinata was fairly sure he wasn’t breathing. 

“Kageyama, don't say things like that! You’re gonna fry my brain! You don't get to be all cool, ‘cause I’ve liked you for longer! I liked you in that volleyball game. I really did. You looked so tall and attractive and you were so _good!_ God! You just make me…” 

Hinata couldnt quite express what he was feeling in words. 

But he could try with actions. 

The rain continued to pour around them, only furthering the romantic atmosphere. 

He sized up the gap between their faces, then surged upwards to kiss Kageyama. 

He overshot and banged their foreheads together. 

Kageyama leaned back, a palm on his head. 

“What the fuck was that?” 

“I was… I was trying to kiss you!” Hinata exclaimed, heavy with embarrassment. 

“Dumbass, you…” Kageyama stepped forward and leaned in. 

Hinata felt a sharp pain in his foot. 

“Ouch! ‘Yama, you’re on my foot!”

“Shit! Why are we so awful at this!” Kageyama exclaimed. 

Hinata took a fistful of his t-shirt, soaking wet with the rain. 

“Third times the charm?” He murmered, staring up at Kageyama. 

Kageyama smiled softly. “Come here, dumbass.”

Then his lips were pressing against’s Hinata’s. 

It was as if the world paused and time stopped moving. 

Faintly, in the back of his mind, Hinata now understood why kissing scenes in movies were shot with the camera spinning around. 

He felt like he was flying. 

The rain crashed down around them, drowning out the sounds of the city. They were standing in their own personal universe right outside of the university’s gymnasium. 

But right now, the only thing that existed was Kageyama.

The taste of his lips, the feel of his hands on Hinata’s waist, pulling him closer. The way his fingers snuck under his jacket and dug into his skin. 

Hinata wrapped his arms around Kageyama’s neck, deepening the kiss. Kageyama let out a soft groan that made Hinata weak in the knees. 

Hinata whimpered involuntarily. Embarassed at his lack of self control, he blushed, but Kageyama’s hands tightened around his waist, pulling him tighter so that their bodies lay flush against each other. 

After a moment, they pulled away slightly, their foreheads pressing together. Both of them were breathing heavily. 

“Hinata, I don’t think you understand how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Kageyama murmered. 

Hinata grinned, opening his eyes to find Kageyama already staring at him. 

“I think I might understand perfectly.” 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and thus concludes the story of third times the charm! BUT i will be posting an epilogue that’s basically just a collection of one shots of their relationship moving forward. depending on how long it is and how overboard i go, it’ll be out tomorrow or the day after that! 
> 
> i hope this is a satisfactory ending for all of you! i’m sure some of you were hoping for some smut, but i’m very sorry, but i don’t feel comfortable writing it. please don’t be mad!
> 
> thank you all for the kudos and all of your amazing comments. i am truly grateful for you guys. i have the best readers!


	17. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> three one shots that take place after the events of third time’s the charm :-)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh! here it is! i had so much fun writing this you have no idea. this is literally just me writing fluffy kagehina moments that didn’t fit in the arc of the true story. 
> 
> thank you all so much for coming on this wacky journey with me! i hope you all enjoy one final chapter <3
> 
> ————— indicates both a switch in POV and a timeskip to a new one shot

“Oi, Dumbass! Where are my sweatpants?” Kageyama yelled through the apartment. 

“Up your ass!” Was Hinata’s responding call. 

Kageyama chuckled to himself and continued sorting through the piles of laundry. He pulled out a black  article of clothing triumphantly, only to realize that it was a hoodie. 

He stared at it blankly. He never put his hoodies through the wash. He barely even let them touch his other clothes. 

But something in him still wouldn’t let them throw it away. 

“Did you find your- Oh.” Hinata scrambled through the room to rip the hoodie out of Kageyama’s hands. “That’s uh, that’s really funny! I wonder how that got in the laundry… hmmm…” Hinata laughed nervously. 

Kageyama narrowed his eyes. “What are you hiding from me?” He asked, standing up from his crouch. 

Hinata waved his hands out in front of him, still firmly grasping the limp hoodie. “Nothing! I’m not hiding anything!” 

Kageyama grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him so that they were standing almost flush against each other. He looked almost directly down at Hinata’s big brown eyes. 

Hinata flushed, but that only spurred Kageyama. Slowly and deliberately, he leaned down until his lips were brushing against Hinata’s ear. 

“What are you hiding?” Kageyama whispered. He could feel Hinata shiver under his grip. 

“It’s no fair when you do stuff like that, ‘Yama,” Hinata said breathlessly. 

Kageyama leaned in closer. “Then tell me,” he whispered. 

“When you had to go out of town for your away game… I stole your hoodie to sleep with,” Hinata said quietly. So quietly, in fact, that Kageyama barely heard him over the erratic pulse of his heart. 

“You… what?” He asked, pulling back to look in Hinata’s eyes, but Hinata was stoutly avoiding his gaze. 

“It smelled like you. And I knew I would miss you. So  I stole it the last time I was here.” 

Kageyama leaned back and laughed, low in his chest. “Dumbass Hinata, you could have just  _ asked!  _ I would’ve given it to you.”

“It’s embarrassing,” Hinata complained, still looking at his shoes. 

“Hey,” Kageyama said, grabbing Hinata’s chin and forcing him to look him in the eye. “It’s not embarrassing. I think it’s nice.”

Kageyama leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Hinata’s lips. Hinata sighed, a sound that Kageyama savored. 

Reluctantly, Kageyama pulled away, despite Hinata’s attempts to follow his mouth. 

“I need to pack. You do too!” Kageyama said, crouching back beside the piles of folded laundry. 

Hinata folded his arms. “We’re going to  _ my  _ house. I have a bunch of clothes already there. I barely have to pack anything!” 

Kageyama grabbed a t-shirt and smacked him in the leg, perhaps a bit harder than he intended too. “Well then don’t you dare come crying to me when you don’t have a toothbrush, idiot!”

Hinata squeaked and dodged when Kageyama tried to hit him again. He giggled as he ran out of the bedroom.

God, Kageyama was dating such a childish idiot. 

He wouldn’t have it any other way. 

They bickered while loading bags into the car, Hinata insisting on driving the four hours to his hometown, despite not having driven literally anywhere in the last six months. 

He only relented when Kageyama said that the person in the passenger seat got to control the music. 

The drive was… interesting. Nice wasn’t exactly the word Kageyama would use, since the traffic coming out of the city wasn’t great, and Hinata  _ insisted  _ on singing along to every song on the radio, despite only knowing the lyrics to roughly half of them. 

But it wasn’t bad. Not at all. Kageyama had been discovering lately that no time spent alone with Hinata could be classified as ‘bad’. It just wasn’t possible. 

Hinata was such a ray of pure sunshine, it almost hurt his eyes sometimes. 

Hinata made him smile. Hinata made him laugh. 

Kageyama glanced over at his boyfriend, who currently had the window rolled down and was sticking his hand out, bobbing his hand up and down on the air currents like he was miming a surfboard.

He was singing along to some extremely vulgar song, the true meanings of half the lyrics Kageyama was sure Hinata wasn’t aware of. 

He sighed and switched lanes, preparing to get off of the highway. Kageyama and Hinata had lived near each other as kids, but there was a mountain separating them. 

Kageyama wondered briefly if they would have been friends in school. 

“Hinata,” he asked, turning the volume knob down so he could be heard. “If you’d known me during school, do you think we would’ve been friends?” 

Hinata looked at him. “Hmmm. I dunno! Probably!” 

Kageyama shook his head at Hinata’s blind optimism. “I didn’t have a lot of friends in school. I probably would have freaked you out.”

“Unless…” Hinata’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Unless we were on a volleyball team together! We would’ve been friends then!”

Kageyama pondered that. Sure, he was ‘friends’ with his teammates. But he’d never had a bond with any of them like he had with Hinata, even before they’d confessed to each other. 

Kageyama pulled onto a side street, that Hinata must have recognized, because he’d begun pointing things out and giving directions, despite the gps on Kageyama’s phone. 

By the time they’d pulled into Hinata’s driveway, Kageyama’s palms were sweating. His stomach had twisted itself into a ball of nerves. The breathing exercises he did before games apparently  _ don’t  _ work before meeting your boyfriend's family. 

Hinata must have noticed his anxiety, because Kageyama felt a small hand on his knee. 

“They’ll love you, ‘Yama. I swear. Now stop strangling the steering wheel!” 

Kageyama looked at his white knuckled grip on the poor wheel. Hinata pried his left hand free and laced their fingers together, squeezing slightly. 

Kageyama gave him a grateful glance before he got out of the car. 

He walked around to the back, trying to figure out which bag to take in first when he heard a high-pitched squeal. 

“Shouyou!” The voice shrieked excitedly. 

Kageyama watched through the gap in the headrests as a smaller (if that was possible) version of Hinata with longer hair sprinted out the door and nearly tackled him in a bear hug. 

Hinata lifted her up and spun her around a couple of times before setting her down gently and grinning. 

Natsu’s back was to Kageyama as he watched them interact. 

Kageyama had never had any siblings. But suddenly he wanted one. 

“Oh, Natsu, you’re all healed! I mean, I know you told me, but I didn’t really believe it! Look at you!” Hinata exclaimed, the beaming smile on his face somehow, impossibly, widening. 

“I’m getting ahead of myself!” Hinata exclaimed. “Natsu, there’s somebody I want you to meet. Kageyama!” He called out. 

Kageyama almost hit his head on the back door of the car. With a final deep breath, he walked out from behind the car. 

Kageyama wasn’t exaggerating when he said Natsu’s jaw dropped. Her mouth fell into a little ‘O’ and her cheeks flushed. 

Kageyama wasn’t quite sure what that meant. At all. Hopefully it was good? 

But Kageyama has practiced this in the mirror. He could do this! 

He smiled softly at the girl and extended his hand. “I’m Kageyama Tobio. You must be Natsu. Pleasure to meet you,” he said. He prayed that his smile didn’t look like a demon had possessed him. 

Maybe a little bit more awkward than he would have liked to sound. But it was better than stuttering and stammering like he’d been afraid of doing. 

Natsu stared at his outstretched hand for what felt like a full minute before tentatively shaking it. 

“I- I’m Natsu. You already know that. Of course. I’m Hinata’s sister. You know that too. I’m sorry. Hi.” Natsu was the one to stutter now. She was bright red. 

Kageyama was supremely confused, but he shook her hand anyways. 

Hinata cleated his throat. “ _ Natsu,”  _ He said, almost threateningly. She squealed, then shook his hand again. Then she ran inside. 

Kageyama felt like he was missing something. 

“Dammit, I knew I should have sent her pictures or something. Eased her into it. I pushed her off the deep end!” Hinata exclaimed, grabbing Kageyama’s arm. 

“What?” Kageyama asked. 

“Oh, nothing, nothing,” Hinata said quickly as he dragged Kageyama inside after Natsu. 

Hinata’s mother was an older, plumper version of Natsu. All of the Hinata’s looked the same. It nearly gave Kageyama a headache to see so many beaming smiles in the same room. 

He clutched Hinata’s hand a bit tighter, feeling more than a little inferior. 

“Kageyama-kun! Oh, Shouyou’s told us  _ so  _ much about you-“ 

“Mom! You’re embarrassing me!” Hinata complained, flushing a delicate pink. 

Hinata’s mother moved in to pinch her son’s ear before turning back to Kageyama. “Dearie, can I get you something to drink?”

“Oh, uh. Just a water, that would be really nice. Thank you, ma’am,” Kageyama replied. 

“Natsu, sweetie, be a dear and get Kageyama-kun a cup of water?” Natsu blushed again and scurried out of the room. 

Women had always confounded Kageyama. He gave Hinata a look of confusion, but Hinata was too busy looking pissed off to notice. 

“You alright?” Kageyama asked. 

Hinata looked up. “Oh, yeah. Natsu’s just… you know.”

Kageyama, in fact, did not know. 

But he nodded anyway. 

When Natsu returned with a glass of water, the four of them sat at the dining table and chatted for a while. When Hinata’s mother left to finish the dinner, the atmosphere changed. 

Kageyama nervously glanced between Hinata and Natsu, both of whom were staring at him. 

Confused and stressed, he stared down at the table and drummed his fingers against his jean-clad thighs.

He was saved by Hinata’s mother re-entering with a pot of pork curry. Kageyama inhaled the scent deeply, closing his eyes. 

When he opened them, Hinata’s mother was looking at him fondly. 

“Shouyou requested it. He said it was your favorite, Kageyama-kun.” She smiled warmly. 

Kageyama turned to Hinata, dumbfounded. “I never told you that pork curry’s my favorite,” he said. 

Hinata looked supremely smug. “I know. I just knew it.  _ That’s  _ what makes me the best boyfriend ever!” He laughed and took a large spoonful of the savory curry and plopped it onto Kageyama’s plate. 

Kageyama practically inhaled the dish. It was  _ phenomenal.  _ He told Hinata’s mother as much, but she just waved his words away with a dismissive hand. 

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever had homemade pork curry, Hinata-san,” Kageyama said between bites. 

“Did your mother never make it?” She asked. 

“Oh, no. I didn’t usually eat dinner with my parents growing up. They worked late almost every night, so I mostly ate premade stuff,” Kageyama said simply. 

Hinata’s mother regarded him with a soft look in her eyes before the topic began to change. 

They chatted for another half an hour before Hinata excused the both of them back to his room for the night. 

As they climbed the stairs, Hinata laced his fingers with Kageyama’s.

When they reached Hinata’s childhood bedroom, Hinata flopped onto his twin sized bed and let out a massive sigh. 

“Kageyama, you are too attractive for your own good,” Hinata said out of the blue. 

“I- what?” Kageyama spluttered. 

“And oblivious to boot! My sister? Natsu? She’s literally in love with you! Even though you’re  _ my  _ boyfriend!” Hinata lifted his head before letting it fall back on the bed with another sigh. 

“She- Huh? How do you even know that?” 

“You’re joking, right? You aren’t joking? Jesus, ‘Yama! She’s as obvious as I was! Well, I guess you never figured me out, either…” Hinata looked at him slyly. 

Kageyama grabbed the pillow off of his bed and hit him with it. Hinata shrieked and threw it back, missing Kageyama by at least a foot. 

“How are you so bad? How?” 

Hinata scowled and glared at him. Kageyama sat next to him and wrapped an arm around his stupidly sensitive boyfriend’s shoulder. 

“She’s probably just nervous to meet me. I mean, I’m nervous to meet her! Maybe she just wants to make a good impression!”

“Oh, she wants to make an impression alright,” Hinata grumbled. 

Kageyama chuckled softly and tightened his grip, pulling Hinata closer. 

Hinata responded by snuggling into Kageyama’s side and leaning his head on Kageyama’s shoulder. 

“I just have one question.”

Hinata looked up at him. 

“How the fuck are we both fitting in this tiny-ass bed?”

  
  


—————

  
  


Hinata hung over the edge of the railing as the University of Tokyo volleyball team ran onto the court. 

He yelled as loud as he could, matched by the pair beside him. 

Once he’d gotten to know him, Oikawa Tooru was actually a very fun person to be around. 

Sure, he was a little grating at times, and he refused to call Hinata anything other than Chibi-chan and Shrimpy, but that was alright. Mostly. 

Iwaizumi was a little harder to get to know, but he balanced out Oikawa’s boisterous personality well. He was grounding. 

But beyond that, when Hinata had found out that Iwaizumi loved horror movies as much as Hinata did, they became fast friends. 

Oikawa was squeamish and Kageyama didn’t think they were ‘realistic’ enough, ( _ “Why does the ghost have to be a little girl? Why would little girl want to haunt anyone? That’s stupid!” _ ) so Hinata and Iwaizumi had spent quite a few nights together on Kageyama’s couch watching horrifically gory movies and laughing at the poor special effects. 

It was also nice to have someone who liked to cheer as loud as Hinata. And Oikawa was that someone. 

Kageyama glanced up at them and Hinata gave him the biggest beaming smile he could muster. 

Kageyama blushed and turned around to face the coach. 

“Ugh, you guys make me  _ sick _ , you’re so cute!” Oikawa bemoaned. 

“Huh?” Hinata asked, turning his head away from the court. 

“I’ve known Tobio-chan for, like, seven years and I’ve made him blush  _ maybe  _ twice. And both of those times were still about you! I’m a little jealous,” Oikawa said simply. 

“You guys… talked about me?” Hinata asked, feeling his ears start to flush. 

“Are you kidding? Every night Tobio-chan would come home and flop onto the couch like a maiden from a romance novel and just  _ whine  _ about ’Chibi-chan doesn't like me back‘ or ‘I embarrassed myself in front of Chibi-chan today!’ It was the most emotion that isn't anger that I’ve ever seen from him.” 

“Shut up. Trashy-kawa. You loved when he was like that. You told me it was your own personal soap opera,” Iwaizumi said, flicking the back of Oikawa’s head. 

“It was! It really was. And to think, you were thinking the same things about Tobio-chan.” Oikawa sighed. 

“No, I was mostly thinking angry thoughts. At him and you,” Hinata said. 

“Me?” Oikawa said, absolutely aghast. 

“Well, yeah. I kinda thought you two were… together,” Hinata said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

Oikawa stared at him for a moment before his eyes widened in realization. “The grocery store… with the arm… and the… ahh…” 

Hinata laughed. “You got that a lot quicker than Kageyama did.”

Iwaizumi snorted. 

“And I mean, I only found out that you  _ weren’t  _ dating when I walked in on you two making out in the men’s room of a bar.”

Iwaizumi stopped laughing. 

“I told Kageyama you were cheating on him. You can imagine how confused he was,” Hinata said, chuckling. 

“He’s a little dense, sometimes,” Oikawa said, looking at Kageyama, who was stretching his thighs by pulling his ankles behind him. 

Hinata just sighed in agreement. 

It wasn’t the first game Hinata had seen since he and Kageyama had started dating. In fact, he’d been at every home game, and as many away games as he could. 

It really was convenient that Hinata loved volleyball so much. 

The trio watched the game intently, commenting on plays and cheering at all the best moments. Hinata even started a chant when Kageyama was up to serve, something he was embarrassingly proud of. 

They won the game after a terrifyingly long deuce. Of course, it was a setter dump by Kageyama that clinched the win. 

Hinata thought he looked very,  _ very  _ attractive when he did setter dumps. And he was pretty sure Oikawa could tell. 

They made their way through the crowds as the people started streaming out into the lobby. They stood around, waiting and chatting, when a loud voice resounded across the room. 

“Little man!” 

Hinata jumped up and spun around, overjoyed to see the large, easily excitable man. “Bokuto-san!”

Bokuto was soon joined by Noya and Tanaka, who Hinata introduced to Oikawa and Iwaizumi. 

“So, you’re Oikawa? Kageyama’s told me about you. He said you like aliens,” Bokuto said. 

Oikawa sniffed and stuck his nose in the air. “I do. And what of it?” 

Bokuto broke into a wide grin. “That is  _ awesome.  _ I need your help. I think I was abducted by aliens once.” 

He was deadly serious. Hinata stifled a laugh. 

Oikawa nudged him with an elbow. “Chibi-chan,” was all he said, but he pointed to a certain dark haired setter with his back to Hinata before turning back to Bokuto. 

They’d been together for months, Kageyama had even met his family. But seeing him still gave Hinata butterflies.

He practically skipped over, but stopped when he saw who Kageyama was talking to. 

He was speaking to a beautiful girl around their age, with long brown hair and big chocolate eyes. 

“Well, Kageyama-san, I just wanted to say that you play very well. I think you’re really good!” 

Hinata paused. Why was he talking to her? Were they friends? 

Maybe he should just let them talk. Maybe he should-

Hinata sneezed. His sneezes were loud, high pitched, and very recognizable. Hinata thought they were annoying, but Kageyama called them cute, when he was in a complimentary mood.

Hinata saw Kageyama’s back stiffen as he turned his head to face Hinata. 

His eyes crinkled as he smiled softly at Hinata before grabbing his wrist and pulling him closely, pressing a kiss to Hinata’s hairline. Hinata’s stomach flipped. 

Kageyama wrapped a hand around Hinata’s waist protectively and turned back to the girl, who had stopped talking and was blushing furiously, glancing between them. 

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?” Kageyama asked. Knowing him, he probably thought she was just some volleyball enthusiast. 

“Oh, uh…” She glanced at Hinata, who leaned his head on Kageyama’s shoulder. Maybe it was going a bit too far, but Hinata didn’t really care. “Nevermind. Have a nice night,” she said before walking away quickly. 

“Huh. She was kinda weird,” Kageyama said. 

Hinata snorted. “You are literally the most oblivious person I’ve ever met.”

Kageyama stared at him. Hinata sighed. “I can’t even be  _ jealous,  _ ‘cause you have no clue that they’re into you.”

Kageyama flushed and muttered something about dumbasses. 

Hinata decided to take it as a compliment. 

  
  


—————

  
  


Kageyama looked around at the lights as he strode through the park. 

Every year, around this time, someone strung all of the trees in the park with twinkling fairy lights, making something beautiful out of the flower-less cherry blossom trees. 

It was December 18th, so Christmas was right around the corner. Even the air felt festive in preparation for the holidays. 

Kageyama continued walking until he found a medium sized hill that was surrounded by the twinkling trees. Of course, it would look better at night, but it looked good now too. 

He spun around slowly, trying to take a mental picture of this spot so that he could remember it later. 

_ Straight on from the entrance, turn left at the basketball court, then walk straight forward.  _

Should be straightforward enough. 

But Normal Kageyama and Nervous Kageyama had very different thinking processes. And tonight, Kageyama would be a mess of nerves. 

Tonight, he was going to tell Hinata that he loved him. His breath shuddered just thinking about it. 

Of course, he’d felt that way for a long time. He was pretty sure he’d started to fall in love with Hinata Shouyou the minute he’d first made eye contact with him in the Karasuno Coffee House. 

But Kageyama wasn’t what you would call ‘good with words’. So he’d just let it stew until recently when it had started to become almost physically painful not to say it. 

It had begun to almost slip out in everyday conversation. Their last phone call had ended a little something like this: 

“Alright, I’ll see you later.”

“Okay! Bye, ‘Yama!”

“Bye, Hinata. I l…”

“Huh?”

“... I left something at your apartment. A pair of shoes. I’ll just get them next time. Bye.”

Not great. 

After Kageyama figured he had sufficient mental directions, he texted them to Oikawa as he left the park in hopes of completing the rest of his to do list. 

He went to three different places before he finally sat back in Oikawa’s obnoxiously blue car and closed his eyes. 

If it was four o’clock now, that meant that he should get going. The sun had begun to set early, so if he wanted to catch the sunset, they should leave soon. 

He pulled into the apartment’s parking lot and took a deep breath before grabbing what he needed and making his way up to Hinata’s apartment. 

Kageyama was barely breathing when Hinata pulled open his door widely.

Then he stared at Kageyama. 

Kageyama shoved the flowers in his hands forward roughly, not quite sure what to do with them. 

Hinata stared at him while he grabbed the bouquet of yellow flowers gently. 

“K- Kageyama?” Hinata asked, stuttering. 

“I told you I was gonna be a gentleman tonight, dumbass. So I wanted to bring you flowers.” 

“Gentlemen don't call their dates ‘dumbass’,” Hinata said snarkily as he locked the door behind him with one hand. 

“This gentleman does.”

“Then this gentleman sucks.”

Kageyama resisted the urge to smack the back of Hinata's head as he laughed at his own joke. 

He settled for opening the passenger door for him and smoothly pulling out of the lot. 

“So, are you gonna tell me where we’re going?” Hinata asked. 

“Nope,” Kageyama replied simply. 

Hinata huffed and looked out the window. Kageyama smiled softly to himself. 

When they arrived at the park, Kageyama reached into the glove box and pulled out a blindfold. 

Hinata giggled. “Whoa, ‘Yama! I didn’t think this side of you existed! And in public?”

“Shut up, dumbass! Just put it on,” Kageyama grumbled, his face flushing. 

Hinata giggled again as he tied the dark cloth around the back of his head. 

Kageyama was too nervous about not letting Hinata crash into a tree or fall into a ditch to even think about what he was about to do. 

_ Left at the basketball courts.  _

Kageyama sucked a breath in between his teeth as he stared at the hill. 

Oikawa was a magician. 

The picnic looked straight out of a movie, with the sun close to dipping below the horizon and the lights wrapped around the tree branches twinkling in the golden light. 

Kageyama put his hands on Hinata’s shoulder and undid the knot on the cloth around his eyes. 

Hinata’s gasp was something Kageyama would never forget. 

He grasped his boyfriend’s slender hand and led him over to the blanket, where they sat together, Hinata continuing to stare in childlike wonder at the lights. 

“Do you-“ Kageyama cleared his throat. “Do you like it?” 

Hinata whipped his head around to face him. 

“Like it? Kageyama, I  _ love  _ it.” 

Kageyama sighed in relief. 

“Great. Okay. Well, then, I’m just gonna get it out.” Hinata tilted his head. “I brought you here because this was where we first hung out together, so it felt right. Now, you know I’m not very good with words, so I’m just gonna say it. 

“Hinata, you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You make me want to be a better man. You’re my best friends and my boyfriend and…” Kageyama swallowed hard. 

“And I love you. I’m in love with you. And you don’t have to say it back, but-“

“I love you too.” Hinata grinned and leaned forward so that their noses were almost touching. “I love you… Tobio.” 

Kageyama’s breath caught in his chest. His heart hammered into over time as his stomach did backflips. 

“Shouyou,” was all he could whisper before he was capturing Hinata’s lips in a deep kiss. 

Hinata’s head was in Kageyama’s lap when the sun began to set. Kageyama was running his fingers through the orange locks of hair, relishing in how soft it felt against his hands. 

Hinata let out a contented sigh, his eyes closed. 

Kageyama stared down at the beautiful boy in his lap. His lips were still slightly scarlet from their previous… antics and the corners of his mouth pulled up in a soft smile. 

Hinata’s eyes flickered open to stare at him. 

“I love you, Tobio.”

“I love you, too, Shouyou.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it! this is the end! i cannot believe i actually wrote this, put it out into the world, and people actually read it. 
> 
> thank you thank you THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to everyone who read, left kudos, or sent kind words my way in the comments. i love and appreciate you all so so so much.
> 
> i definitely want to keep writing! so if you wouldn’t mind commenting things you might want to see in future fics, like ships, tropes, au’s, etc. i have a couple vague ideas floating around in my head, but i’d really love and appreciate the help of my oh so wonderful readers :-)
> 
> thank you all again. i love you so much. (yes, i’m talking to you! thank you!)

**Author's Note:**

> if you’re reading this, i am genuinely thanking you for being here. this is the first time i’m putting my writing out into the world so thank you for taking the time to read it, it really means a lot to me <3


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